Raising the Stakes
by Bamie02
Summary: Kensi and Deeks decide to say 'I Do' but haven't told anyone that they are together. What will happen when the team finds out they are more than just partners?
1. Chapter 1

_I was given a prompt by N7sdr93 a while back and after some prodding, I finally got it done. It was requested that Kensi and Deeks secretly elope and make bets on how/when the team finds out... well, I may have tweaked that a little. Hope you like it!_

_justareader07 was awesome helping me figure out exactly how I wanted to do this and bookdiva was amazing as always for reading it over for me._

_Disclaimer - all characters you know aren't mine._

* * *

It had been a slow day at the Office of Special Projects. Kensi and Deeks were having a friendly discussion about the effects of too many Twinkies while Sam and Callen sat back and watched. Deeks couldn't keep the grin off his face, and Kensi looked like she was about to blow a gasket.

"Kensi, there is nothing appetizing about them. I have no idea how you can eat one - let alone the whole box - in one sitting." He was smiling at the almost angry look on her face. He had always known exactly what buttons to push, and he very rarely let the opportunity to push them pass him by.

"You just don't know what you're missing." She unwrapped another Twinkie and all but shoved it in her mouth.

"Is it really necessary to eat it all at once? Can't you try taking actual bites like normal people?" Deeks was impressed with the action, but there was no way he was letting Sam and Callen in on that little secret.

Once Kensi had that one chewed, she slowly unwrapped the next one, her eyes never leaving Deeks's and smiled. He sat back in his chair, hands linked together behind his head, smirk on his face as he watched her slowly put the entire Twinkie in her mouth before licking her fingers. Her actions, and their meaning, weren't lost on him, and he waited until she was done before getting up and walking over to her.

The two never let their eyes leave each other and she tilted her head at him when he walked up. Slowly, he brought his hand up to her face, using his thumb to wipe away the crumbs on her face.

"You've got a little something on your face Princess. You can't do anything without making a mess, can you?" He winked at her and stepped back just in time. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he could see the threat there.

"Hey Deeks, you might wanna go hide. Kensi's about to kill you." Sam laughed as he watched the exchange. It wasn't surprising to see these two act like this, and it was always entertaining to see what kind of physical harm Kensi would bestow on her partner at the end of it.

Deeks took the big man's advice, turning on his heel and taking off towards the gym with Kensi right behind him. Callen laughed at them before shaking his head and calling out.

"Good luck Deeks." He saw him running, Kensi on his heels, and he looked over at Sam.

"One day, she's really going to kill him."

Sam shrugged at him, looking towards the gym. "Maybe. I think he's growing on her, though."

"He keeps making comments about her Twinkie addiction and there won't be a body to find."

Sam just smiled, opening his computer and working on a report. Callen may not see it, but those two were actual friends now, and Kensi was more bark than bite when it came to Deeks. She might still pack a punch to his arm, but nowadays they barely left a bruise. They'd come a long way, and Sam was happy about that. Kensi needed someone in her life who wasn't going to leave her.

As soon as Deeks heard the gym door close, he waited half a second before turning around with his arms open. And just like he knew she would, she flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her lips to his.

They stayed like that for a precious few seconds, knowing anyone could walk in on them. When they pulled back, Deeks licked his lips.

"Yummy. I can still taste the Twinkies." Kensi smiled at him.

"Is that a bad thing? You always said you liked the way I taste." She raised her eyebrow at him, waiting for his response.

"Nope, not a bad thing at all. It's you, and you know I love everything about you." Kensi blushed at his words. They may be romantically involved now – and had been for almost a year – but he still had the power to bring heat to her cheeks with his words.

"You know, your little stunt could have gotten us in trouble today." Their team didn't know about the change in 'partner' status, and they weren't quick to announce it to the world. When the time came – because they weren't stupid, they knew at some point they would have to tell them – they wanted to show everyone that they could be partners in and out of OSP.

"I'm not the one who made eating a Twinkie into a sensual act. Only you can turn me on by eating one of those damn things, Sugarbear."

"What can I say? It's a gift." She winked at him before turning and walking out, the sound of laughter following her.

As soon as she made it back to her desk, Eric stepped up to the balcony, a solemn look on his face.

"Come on guys. We've got a um… a situation." He turned, knowing the team would follow him.

They all looked at him, confusion on their faces as they made their way up the stairs. Once the doors to OPS opened and they walked in, they knew it wasn't good.

On the screen before them was a picture of Kensi and Deeks on one their undercover missions. They had gone undercover as a married couple again to get close to an arms dealer, Manuel Rodriguez, and his nephew Juan. The only problem was they had been made before the mission was over and the team had to come in and save the day. The bad guys had been arrested and Kensi and Deeks had been rescued, but Juan had been long gone and they hadn't been able to track him down.

"Yesterday, LAPD did a bust on a warehouse containing weapons and drugs. When they did the raid, one of the rooms had a computer set up in it, and this is what they found." Eric looked at the group before pressing play.

The team watched as a man sat in front of the screen, a younger version of the king pin they had taken down. Juan Rodriguez.

"Hello Agent Blye, Detective Deeks. A year ago, you took down my uncle, but you seemed to have forgotten about me. Well, probably not forgotten, but you never could get a lock on my location. And I bet you were always curious as to how we knew who you were. Well, let's just say I know people… who know people. Now, I'm back. And Agent Blye, it's you I want."

The screen went black and they all stared for a minute.

"What does he want with me?" Kensi looked over at Deeks who had a murderous expression on his face. It was one thing to get made, it was quite another to have someone say they were after his partner. _His_ partner.

"I don't know Ms. Blye, but I'm sure we will figure it out soon enough." Hetty walked in the room, looking around at her team. They were all a family, and no one made threats against her family without deadly results.

Callen made Eric replay the video before glancing at Sam, seeing the same conclusion on his face.

"He knows people who know people. Someone is leaking information about you two, and we need to figure out who and why." Sam nodded at Callen's thoughts, thinking the same thing.

"Okay, so how are we going to do that? We can't exactly take out a want ad in the paper." Deeks was truly pissed at this point, wanting nothing more than to lock Kensi away so no one could get to her.

"Easy Mr. Deeks. Only a select few people knew about that mission. So you two are going to get married."

All eyes snapped towards Hetty. A resounding 'what?' came out of everyone's mouth at the same time.

"Since we don't know who or where the mole is, the only people we can fully trust is in this room." Hetty looked at them, her eyes landing on Nell last. Nell quickly picked up her plan and nodded her head.

"Okay, I see where you are going with this. Deeks can tell a few people down at the station that he and Kensi are getting married, name a time and place. We do the same here, giving a different time and place. When the bad guys show up, we will know where the leak came from and can focus our attention on that."

Hetty smiled at her, nodding her head.

"Precisely. Now, Mr. Deeks, if the mole is in LAPD, it's going to be someone close to Bates who can get classified information about where you are and what you are doing."

Deeks nodded his head, his mind already on who would have access to that information. He knew he had pissed off his share of cops, and he could deal with those ramifications on his own. But knowing it may have put Kensi in danger made is blood boil. He tampered it down, looking at Callen.

"I will tell Bates that Kensi and I are having a quiet ceremony this weekend at the church down on Bayside at 2pm."

Kensi picked up on his thoughts.

"I'll go with you, act like the young couple in love, scope out who is watching and listening." Sam and Callen both nodded at her, plans forming.

"Right. Nell, you, Eric, Sam and I will make comments about their wedding around certain people. We will tell them the wedding is two weeks from now at the courthouse with a reception to follow at the beach." Everyone nodded. The circumstances were grim, knowing they were only doing this because someone was after their friends, but Kensi and Deeks couldn't help but smile.

"Okay fiancé. Let's go spread the word why don't we?" He held his arm out to her, smiling when she looped hers through.

"You got it babe." They walked out of OPS arm in arm, the rest of the team shaking their heads at them.

"Okay people, I believe we have some wedding plans to make." Eric and Nell nodded, already getting the marriage license process started, needing this to be as real as possible.

Sam and Callen walked out, heading to gym. They saw a newbie agent there, one who had been brought in shortly before the failed mission and decided this was a good place to start. They discretely set their trap, letting tidbits of info be said as they played basketball. The agent didn't pay them any attention as he continued to hit the bag, but the experienced partners knew this didn't mean anything.

When the newbie finished his workout and walked out, Sam and Callen both stopped and looked at each other.

"I really hope the leak isn't here." Sam looked at his friend, in complete agreement.

"If it's someone here, we will find them. And I will make sure they pay." Sam walked over, punching the bag once before walking off, Callen following.

* * *

Deeks and Kensi made the drive to LAPD headquarters in silence. They made a good show up in OPS, but it was hitting closer to home than anyone else realized. As soon as they were in the car, Kensi leaned over and quickly pressed her lips to his.

"Don't worry Kens, I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He grabbed her hand as she nodded. They both knew that this time, the stakes were raised.

"I know." She would never let her guard down in front of the team, but when she was alone with Deeks it was different. He knew her better than anyone, both personally and professionally. She knew that he would keep her secrets and safe guard her fears, and she wasn't worried about looking weak in front of him. It had taken a long time to get to this point, but she was used to his protectiveness now. It was what showed her in the beginning that he cared, and it had only grown with time.

And as protective as Deeks was of her, she was just as protective of him. She knew that even though this guy was after her, by extension he was after Deeks as well, and she wasn't going to let anything happen to him.

When they pulled up to the station, Deeks got out and waited for Kensi. As soon as she joined him, they walked in together, close enough that their shoulders touched. They heard a few snickers from the other cops there, making Kensi shake her head.

"They are thinking of ways to kill me right now so they can get you for themselves." Deeks took her hand, smiling.

"They touch you, they die."

"Easy there tiger. I was only kidding. Well, partially kidding." He shrugged as they waited for the elevator.

When it arrived, they got on with several other people who were giving them strange looks. Deeks pressed the button and moved to the back, still holding Kensi's hand.

He raised his eye brows at the one person he recognized – the one person who was blatantly staring.

"Hey there Stan."

"Deeks. Who's this?" His eyes flicked to Kensi, who gave him a smile.

"Kensi Blye. Deeks's partner." Stan's eyes got big as understanding filled them.

"So I see you found another partner to _partner_ up with." His words left little to the imagination as to his meaning and Deeks, who was trying hard to contain his anger, just smiled at him.

"Well, what can I say. You just never know when you're going to find the one." Kensi smiled at him just as the elevator dinged, letting them know they had reached their floor.

Deeks quickly pulled her behind him as they got off, Stan never taking his eyes off of them.

"Well, he seems pleasant." Kensi had waited until the doors were closed before commenting.

"You have no idea. But, I think we planted a nice little idea in his head." He was still mad about the insinuation Stan had made, but his words had been the truth. Sometimes you find them, sometimes they find you. And this time, they had found each other.

"Now, let's go give Bates our happy news." Kensi chuckled a little as she followed him, hands still intertwined. She knew this was just a cover story, but she couldn't help but wish it was real.

When they reached Bates's office, they made sure to leave the door open and told him the news.

"What does this have to do with me?" He linked his hands together on the desk, looking back and forth between the two. Deeks looked at Kensi before shrugging his shoulders.

"Consider this your invite." Bates nodded his head and Kensi stole a glance over her shoulder, seeing Stan walk by. She narrowed her eyes a little, wondering just how much he had heard.

"Well, congratulations you two." Deeks and Kensi thanked him before standing up and leaving the room. Deeks saw Stan talking to someone he didn't recognize, and glanced at Kensi who nodded at him.

Deeks walked over, sticking his hand out to the man.

"Detective Marty Deeks. Haven't met you yet." The man looked between the three before shaking the offered hand.

"Michael James." Stan watched Kensi while introductions were made. The silent inspection was more than a little creepy.

"Well Michael, hope you like it here. Just uh, be sure not to get in with the wrong crowd." Deeks glanced at Stan, putting his arm around Kensi when he saw the way the man was looking at her. Kensi leaned into him before they walked away.

When they got back into the car, the two looked at each other.

"So, Stan was outside of Bates's office when we made the announcement. I saw him try and walk by nonchalantly when you told Bates that was his invitation."

Deeks nodded at her, having noticed the same thing.

"Good a place as any to start, don't you think?" She nodded at him as he steered the car into traffic, making their way back to the mission to let Eric and Nell work their magic on the information.

* * *

Saturday dawned bright and early. Kensi opened her eyes and looked at her sleeping companion. His nose twitched, and she smiled. Today was their wedding day. Well, one of possible two mock weddings. The smile slowly fell from her face, wishing that they were actually getting married. But in order for that to happen, Deeks would need to ask her first. And so far, he didn't seem to be in a hurry to do that.

She sighed, getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom. She climbed in the shower, letting the hot water run over her. She reasoned to herself that it was probably a good idea to let the team know they were actually more than just partners before they went any farther with their relationship. She decided that after this mission, once they figured out who the mole was and why the guy wanted her, they would tell the team. It was time to let everyone in on their little secret.

She felt better after the shower and dressed, making her way to the kitchen to start the coffee. She walked Monty and when she made it back to the apartment, Deeks was waiting for her in the kitchen. He handed her a cup which she gratefully accepted, taking a sip.

"So, you ready for today?" Deeks watched her, saw the slip in her façade that showed hurt, and she nodded.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Deeks tilted his head to the side a little. He was about to ask her what was wrong when her phone rang. Sighing, he watched as she answered it, said a few words and hung up.

"Time to get this show on the road. We are meeting at the church in half an hour to get everything set up and then it's show time." She quickly grabbed her purse, badge and gun and waited for Deeks to do the same before walking out.

Kensi kept up the talking on their way to the church, and he knew that she was deflecting. She had seen the question in his eyes and this was her way of avoiding it. Usually, he would force the issue, but he knew now wasn't the time or place to do it.

They pulled up to the church, saw the others waiting for them and joined the group. The walked inside, formed plans and before they knew it, it was time to get ready.

"I um – I need to talk to Kensi real fast." They all nodded, thinking that he was going to give her a famous pep talk. He pulled her to the other room and looked at her. She had a question in her eyes and before he could stop himself, he was down on one knee.

"Kensi, marry me?" He pulled a box out his pocket, opening it and showing her the most beautiful diamond ring she had ever seen.

"Deeks, what –"he watched as the shock on her face showed, glancing from him to the ring.

"Marry me Kensi."

"Deeks, we haven't even told the team we are together. Don't you think we should wait? I mean -"her heart was screaming 'yes' but her head was trying to be the voice of reason.

"Kensi Blye, I could care less who knows and who doesn't. I want you to be my wife. Today. I love you, and nothing and no one will change that. If someone out there wants you, they have to go through me first. But it's not even about that. I want to know that I will forever come home with you, to you, and I want you to know that I am never leaving you. Ever." His eyes bore into hers and he took her left hand, silently begging her to say yes.

"Okay. Yes, I will marry you, Deeks." She smiled at him. If he was ready to jump, she was jumping with him. They would have a lot of explaining to do with the team, but they would cross that bridge when they came to it – together.

The smile that lit his face and the sparkle in his eyes made her heart melt, and she knew she had made the right decision. She had been hoping to one day be his wife… just not like this. But that didn't matter. She watched as he slipped the ring on her finger and then pulled her in for the most Earth shattering kiss she had ever had. When they finally pulled apart, both out of breath, smiles adorned their faces.

"We are going to have to face the music one day with them." She made a gesture to the door, talking about the people outside waiting for them.

"I know. But not today. Is that okay? I want them to focus on the mission, not be hurt and angry that we kept something like this from them for so long." He knew what she was saying and tried to reassure her.

"Yeah, that works." There was a knock at the door and they saw Father Steve enter. He looked between the two of them, smiling.

"Good afternoon." Deeks walked up, shaking his hand. Father Steve knew the details of the plan and had agreed to let them use the church.

"Hi Father." Deeks was starting to get a little nervous now and he fidgeted.

"Please, call me Steve."

"Oh, okay. Steve. Uh, there may be a slight change in plans." Deeks looked at Kensi, who just smirked at him and shook her head. Steve looked between the two, picking up on the tension.

"We uh – we are going to get married today." Confusion clouded Steve's eyes.

"Yes young man, I know. I agreed to perform the service."

"What he's trying to say is we would be honored if you would actually marry us today. We know that this was set up as a front to find out who's looking for me, and the team out there doesn't even know we've been in a relationship, but we want to make this legal. That is, if you would be willing."

They had talked to him before today, and he had agreed to alter some words in the ceremony to make it look like they were getting married without actually doing it. But as he looked between the young couple, he saw nothing but love and admiration between them and he could see they were serious.

"If you are sure about it, I would be honored to perform the service."

They both let out the breath they were holding, Deeks walking up and shaking his hand, thanking him, and Kensi was right behind him giving him a small hug.

"Thank you so much."

He nodded at them, watching as they walked out the door. _Well, this will be interesting_.

As the couple walked back to the front of the church to the waiting members of the team, they looked at each other.

"What took so long?" Callen looked at them, arms folded across his chest.

"Oh, you know, never did formally ask her to marry me. Figured that was important. And the ring, too. Received the ever-ready punch to the arm when I asked her, talked to Father Steve about the service and then came back out here." Simple enough… true enough. They didn't need to know that the proposal had been real, the ring something Deeks had bought months ago and stashed away and that the ceremony would be legal and binding.

_Eh, small details._

Sam just laughed a little before they split up, each one knowing show time was soon and they needed to get ready.

* * *

_AN - So, here's the first part of it. It will be at least one more chapter, maybe two. Hope you enjoyed it. Reviews make my day, and leaving one on your way out would be greatly appreciated. :)_


	2. Chapter 2

_The amount of reviews, favorites and follows on this is unbelievable! You guys are incredible! There aren't enough words to say thank you._

_To two of my favorite people, bookdiva and justareader07, you both are absolutely amazing. Thank you for helping me sort my thoughts and looking over this for me!_

_Disclaimer - not mine._

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"Do you, Martin Deeks, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

Deeks kept his eyes on Kensi, a beaming smile on his face. "I do." He saw Kensi's eyes fill with tears as she blinked them away.

"And do you, Kensi Blye, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

She nodded before she realized she needed to speak. "I do."

They each squeezed their hands that now had rings adorning their left hands.

"Well then, with the power vested in me by the State of California, I now pronounce you man and wife."

This was the tricky part. Deeks wanted to kiss his wife senseless right now, but with the team in attendance, he knew he had to keep it quick. He winked at Kensi, who blushed, and pressed his lips to hers for half a second before pulling away. He could hear Kensi sigh in frustration and smiled. At least he wasn't the only one who thought this was less than ideal.

Finally, they both turned towards the small audience and noticed two new faces. Bates had shown up and so had Michael James. Deeks almost chuckled to himself when he saw that the team had effectively surrounded him without it being noticeable. _Well, they are highly trained federal agents_.

"It is my pleasure to introduce you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Marty Deeks." The team stood up and clapped as the bride and groom made their way down the aisle.

As the newly married couple stood at the back of the church at the end of the ceremony, the team was around them offering their congratulations. Both Kensi and Deeks noticed Bates and Michael off to side and walked over to them. Bates shook Deeks's hand and gave Kensi a quick, friendly hug before turning to Michael, repeating the process.

"You two look really happy." Michael smiled, looking at them both, but it didn't really reach his eyes. Kensi pretended not to notice and put her head on Deeks's shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her and kissed her hair.

"I think happy is an understatement."

Sam and Callen looked at each other and back at the two partners. This was just a set up, but unless you knew that, this looked completely real. The happiness and love coming off of them was something anyone would be a little jealous of.

"Looks like we taught them well. You'd never guess it wasn't real." Callen eyed his partner as he said it, and Sam just shook his head.

"_We_ nothing. _I_ taught them." Callen laughed and Sam smiled as he walked over to small group.

"So, we were thinking of taking you guys out to eat. You in?" He looked at Bates and Michael as they both nodded their heads.

"Perfect. It's nothing fancy, but there's something set up down the beach for you." He saw the confusion in the partner's eyes. This hadn't been part of the plan, but who were they not to go with it? It was, after all, their wedding day.

Deeks looked at Kensi, grabbing her hand and placing a kiss on her lips. She smiled into the kiss and he winked at her when he pulled back.

"What do you say, Mrs. Deeks? Would you like to join this rowdy crowd for a beach side shin-dig?" Kensi was trying to keep a straight face, but when he called her Mrs. Deeks, she knew she'd follow him anywhere. His choice of words at the end made her laugh, her eyes lighting up.

"I guess we can add some class to it."

"Or sass."

Kensi turned to glare at her husband but he kissed her before she could say anything.

"Okay, really guys? I know you just got married, and this is technically the honeymoon period, but this level of PDA is disgusting." Callen was joking when he said it, but he couldn't help but start to wonder why Kensi was so… _accepting_ of the kissing and touches.

Deeks pulled back, putting his forehead to his wife's for a brief second before turning to Callen.

"Just be lucky the honeymoon hasn't _actually_ started."

"Deeks!" Kensi turned, punching him in the shoulder. Deeks immediately grabbed his injured arm and starting pouting.

"What? Geez Kens, you gotta lay off that now."

Michael looked between the two of them, bewilderment on his face. Sam saw the confusion there and shook his head at him.

"Don't try and understand it. These two, violence is love on Kensi's part and Deeks knows how to take it like a man… well, most of the time. The pout is just for show." This statement earned him a glare from Kensi and a smirk from Deeks.

"I think she put a little extra umph in that one, but hey, like Sam said I can take it like a man." He wrapped his arm around Kensi's shoulders, bringing her to his side so she wouldn't try anything else. She answered with her arm circling his waist and together they followed the clan outside and down the beach a little ways.

Kensi stopped short when she caught sight of the two tents set up with some tables and chairs under them. She looked over at Deeks who had the same befuddled look and just shrugged his shoulders at her. Squeezing her hand, he led them over to one of the tables.

Deeks pulled the chair out for Kensi and she smiled at him as she sat down, waiting on her husband to take his place next to her. As the rest of the team and the two added guests took their seats as well, two waiters walked around passing out champagne to everyone. The newlyweds kept stealing questioning glances at each other but kept the smiles on their faces.

Hetty stood up after everyone had a drink and proposed a toast.

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. She was raised by a great and wise king to be strong and independent. The king was a known warrior, and could always be found fighting for good alongside his knights. One day, the king went off to check on his land and never returned. The beautiful princess was devastated, but kept going. She mourned her father, never forgetting him or the lessons he taught her.

"Years later, the beautiful princess had grown. She had had her heart broken after a knight she thought she loved had left her without a word. She promised herself then and there that no man would ever get close to her like that again. She surrounded herself with few trusted, loyal friends and had become very good at wearing a mask of happiness, for she truly believed this was the only way she would _be_ happy.

"It wasn't until a knight from a neighboring kingdom showed up, his hand not only knocking on her door but also knocking down the walls to her heart. They both fought the alliance at first, but soon he was the princess's most trusted companion. Everyone who looked at them saw two friends, with the potential to be so much more.

"One day, the knight declared his love for the princess. It took many months of persuasion on the knight's part to show her that he wasn't leaving her before she finally let go of the doubts and let him into her heart. But once she let that final wall down, she realized she had been keeping herself in the dark for too long and now she wanted nothing but the sunshine only her knight could offer her.

"The two shared a long courtship before finally tying themselves together in front of their most trusted friends and family. Tears of joy were wept across the kingdom that the princess had finally found her happily ever after."

Hetty stopped, looking at Kensi and Deeks.

"To Mr. and Mrs. Deeks. Here's to _your_ happily ever after."

It was silent for a minute before everyone started clapping. Kensi had tears running down her face at the words Hetty had spoken. It was her tale, their tale, and while the rest of the team thought this was just a set up, they both realized in that moment that they were stupid to think Hetty wouldn't know. But her words, and the meaning behind them, told them that she was okay with this, and she would back them up as best as she could. Her support meant the world to both of them.

Deeks finally got his wits about him and stood up, clearing his throat.

"Wow, Hetty. That was uh – that was beautiful. We can't thank you guys enough for being here today and celebrating this occasion with us. And this?" He gestured around him at the tents, champagne and gourmet sandwiches that were being passed around now. "This is perfect. When you said we were going to get a bite to eat, I was thinking pizza and beer at that new place around the corner."

Everyone started laughing knowing the pizza and beer would have fit the two of them just fine… _if_ this was a real wedding reception, of course.

"Seriously though, thank you." He raised his glass and everyone else did the same before taking a sip. He sat back down, taking Kensi's hand as their food was set down. He leaned over, whispering in her ear.

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I love you more than you will ever know, and I am so glad you are spending your life with me." He pulled back, saw the blush on her cheeks and kissed her again.

An hour later, the plates had been cleared and everyone was starting to get up. Kensi picked up her purse Nell had been holding for her and threw it over her shoulder before standing next to Deeks, who was talking to Bates and Michael. She took a pen and paper out, jotted something down and stuffed the paper back in her purse, pen still in her hand.

"So Deeks, any honeymoon plans?" Michael looked between the two as he waited for the answer.

"Nah, not right now. We have a lot going on at work, and we figured that it would be better if we waited until things slowed down a little before jetting off into the wild unknown."

"Well, I hope it slows down soon for you. Don't want to look back and wish you had done things differently." Both Kensi and Deeks looked at each other, finding his choice of words a little alarming, considering the whole reason behind the wedding. They knew that to everyone else it would look like love and longing in their gaze, but the two of them were doing their best form of communication.

"You know, maybe you're right. Maybe we should make the time if it doesn't present itself." Kensi nodded at his words and looked back at Michael. He was intently watching the two and it unnerved her.

"Well, I think it's time for us to head home. Lt. Bates, Michael, we are so glad you were able to make it today."

She leaned forward, giving each man a quick hug as Deeks shook their hands.

"Congratulations again, Deeks. You guys deserve some happiness in this life." Bates nodded at them once more before turning and walking back towards the church and his car, Michael following him.

The rest of the team came over and chatted as they watched the men walk away. As soon as they were out of sight, Eric sighed.

"There's a tracking device on your purse, Kens." Deeks raised his eyebrows and looked at her.

"Damn, that was fast. Well, at least now we know who to look at. Hope he doesn't decide to just disappear." He looked back over at the direction Michael had been walking, despising the man.

"Don't worry. We can track him." She raised the pen up, and Eric and Nell smiled at her.

"That's a pen, Kens. That you're holding. How can we track him with that?" Deeks loved her with his whole heart, but sometimes he wondered about her.

"It really amazes me how little faith you have in me sometimes, Deeks. It has tracking solution on the end of it when you press it the right way. When I hugged him, I made sure to spray some on his skin."

"I knew I married a genius."

"Too bad it wasn't real. Don't forget it was all for show Deeks. Kensi doesn't do second dates, much less marriage." Callen watched him as he said it, and saw something pass behind the Detective's eyes. If he hadn't been watching, he knew he would have missed it.

"Details. She said 'I do', I said 'I Do'. We _did_." He locked eyes with Callen and smirked at him. He was trying really hard to play this off, both having already agreed to wait and tell the team at a later date, but he didn't need the team leader's smart ass remarks.

Everyone was standing there watching the two men before Nell decided enough was enough.

"Okay guys. Look, Kensi has a tracking device on her purse now, so Deeks can take it with him when he goes home so it looks like Kensi is there with him. We have an idea why they are tracking her, but we don't know what the plan is with it."

Kensi was deep in thought for a minute before speaking.

"Look, they are tracking me in hopes I will continue to carry this purse. That in and of itself is a rookie mistake because women change purses all the time. It wouldn't last long. But if they decide to stake out Deeks's place, too, just in case, then him carrying a purse around is going to look suspicious."

Hetty eyed the two, waiting to see what else they would come up with. Sam had been following Kensi's train of thought and nodded in understanding.

"Okay, so Kensi will just stay with Deeks until this is over. That way, if they are staking you out too, at least you guys will be together and it won't raise any other red flags."

"I will change purses tonight or tomorrow, because I don't want them to trace me to OSP." They all nodded and Deeks smiled.

"So wifey, does this mean we get to sleep together?" Callen just started laughing as Kensi turned, arm raised and Deeks stepped back quickly.

"Okay fine. I'll take the couch. This marriage isn't looking very promising right now Kensi." She saw the laughter in his eyes and tried to stay serious but couldn't.

"There's always counseling. I'm sure the good doctor would _love_ to hear about…" Deeks put his hand over her mouth to keep her from saying the rest of it.

"Don't you do it." She winked at him, and he narrowed his eyes at her before removing his hand.

"What are you talking about?" She gave him a shy look, batting her eyes.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's get back to the issue at hand, please." Hetty's voice was stern but her eyes were shining in laughter.

"Right. So, Kensi will stay at Deeks's place and act like the happy, newly married couple in public. Hopefully we won't have to wait long to find out who's behind this, and what they want with you." Nell shot Kensi a small smile.

"Let us know if you guys notice anything out of the ordinary." They had all started migrating back towards the church at this point to get their vehicles and head out.

Before Deeks and Kensi could get into their cars to leave, Hetty walked over to them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Deeks. I believe there is one thing left to do." She turned and started walking back towards the church and the two had no alternative but to follow, unsure what was going on.

When they made it inside, Father Steve was there with another woman.

"Ah, Ms. Lange, glad you made it back. I'd like to introduce my close friend Sheila. Now, if you could please sign here." He pushed a piece of paper towards her and she quickly put her signature to it. Shelia stepped up and signed her name as well. Deeks and Kensi still had confusion written on their faces.

Hetty smiled at the two.

"You wanted to make it legal, didn't you? Then you needed two witnesses as well as your signatures." They both looked at Father Steve who just laughed.

"Don't look at me. I didn't say anything. She brought this up after you had already left the office."

"Hetty –"

"Mr. Deeks. I fully support this and I know you two have your reasons for keeping it from the team. You will tell them in your own time, in your own way. But I was serious when I said I want you both to have your happily ever after… _together_." She smiled at them, watching the tears in Kensi's eyes as she walked up first and signed her name. Deeks nodded his head at her before signing the paper.

"Now, you two go home. Enjoy this moment as best you can. Like Mr. Callen said, if you notice anything out of the ordinary, don't hesitate to notify us immediately." They both nodded at her and Kensi leaned over, hugging her.

"Thank you, Hetty." She pulled back and Deeks did the same, pulling the small woman into a hug.

"You are welcome. Now, go." She laughed a little as she shoo'd them away, watching them walk out the door hand in hand.

* * *

_AN - So, here's the chapter. Hope you all liked it. More to come shorty (fingers crossed.) Also, if you are reading Smile Sunshine, I'm hoping to have that chapter up in a few days. _

_Reviews are ALWAYS welcomed! :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_Okay guys. bookdiva is away for a while, so any and all mistakes you find...they belong to me. justareader07 was essential in helping me figure out exactly how I wanted to do this and the direction to take to get there... you, my friend, are amazing. Thank you! Hope y'all enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

The drive home was silent. Hands were intertwined, but their minds were on other things. Kensi was trying to figure out exactly why Juan Rodriguez wanted her and how Michael James fit into the mix. Deeks's head was still trying to wrap around the fact that this beautiful, stubborn, hard-headed, deadly, amazing woman had agreed to be his forever. He knew he should be trying to get to the bottom of the case, but right now he was happy and he didn't want to ruin it.

"Hey Princess. What's going on in that beautiful mind of yours?" He glanced over, seeing the wheels turning.

"Mmm. Just wondering if someone is already watching your apartment or not."

"Our."

Kensi glanced over at him.

"What?"

"Not _my_ apartment. _Our_ apartment. Hasn't been mine for quite some time now."

"Right. Of course." Kensi shook her head, trying to clear it.

"Babe. It's okay. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You know that right?"

"Deeks, I can take care of myself." She heard him sigh, and frowned. Why she was being so disagreeable right now, she didn't know, but her frustration at the whole thing was getting to her.

They made it the few more blocks to the apartment in silence. As soon as Deeks put the car in park, he reached over and pulled Kensi to him, framing her face with his hands and pressing his lips to hers. He could feel her stiffen for half a second before her hands found his arms. She slowly deepened the kiss, realizing she needed this kind of communication rather than the verbal form.

Deeks pulled away sooner than either of them would have liked. Their eyes stayed close as Deeks put his forehead to hers, their breathing erratic. When it finally evened out, he pulled away a little, his hands still on her face, thumbs caressing her cheeks as he looked into the most mesmerizing set of mismatched eyes he had ever had seen.

"I love you Kensi. Yes, I know you can take care of yourself, but you have to remember that we are a team. Partners, not just at work but in everything. So, for once, let me be the protective husband. Let me think for a minute that you need me."

"Deeks, I am always going to need you. Always. At work and at home. I know sometimes I try and push you away, but you have to know that it's a defense mechanism. Something I'm working on… actually something I think I will always have to work on." She put her head down, but Deeks just put his hand under her chin, lifting her face back up.

"Kens, I'm not going anywhere, no matter how hard you push. Instead of pushing me away when you have stuff on your mind, let me in. You and me, that's it. That's _all_ that matters, that's all that's _ever_ mattered. That's why this-"he pointed in between them, "has worked. That ceremony today, it sealed the deal. You aren't getting rid of me, okay? I'm not going anywhere."

Kensi's eyes had filled with tears as she nodded at him.

"Okay?" Deeks prodded, needing to hear the words.

"Okay."

If she was going to say anything else, it was cut off by the feel of his lips on hers again. This time, instead of soft and slow, it was hard and full of passion. She felt his hand leave her face and wrap in her hair as he deepened the kiss, pulling her as close as he could in the SRX.

"I love you." Deeks murmured the words against her mouth.

"I love you too." Her hands were fisted in his hair, her breath mingling with his.

"As much as I love you, I am not consummating this marriage in our car. Come on Princess. There's a nice, soft bed waiting for us." He pulled away, seeing the passion in her eyes that mirrored his own.

She smiled at him, climbing out of the car. She glanced around the parking lot, looking for anything out of the ordinary but didn't notice anything. Deeks did the same before grabbing her hand and walking up to the door and unlocking it.

As soon as it was closed, she looked at him.

"Come on lover boy. You promised a bed." He smirked at her, scooping her up in his arms and carried her to their room.

* * *

Monday morning came sooner than either of them would have liked. Kensi had changed out her purse on Sunday night so whoever was tracking her wouldn't know about OSP. Deeks held her hand as they drove, the seemingly simple act now holding so much more meaning.

"Hey. So uh, when did you want to tell the team?" Deeks glanced over at her, his words making her shake her head.

"I thought we already agreed after this was over." She studied is profile, eyes squinting a little as she looked at him.

"Yeah, I know. I was just wondering about the time frame afterwards and, more importantly, how to tell them. No matter what, you will be a widow." He sighed, making Kensi smile.

"Well, in that case, we should get you extra life insurance now. If they are going to kill you I might as well get some money out of it."

"Hilarious Kens. So funny I forgot to laugh." He shook his head at her, but Kensi could make out the smile he was trying to contain.

"What? It was just an idea."

"Yeah, excellent idea. Right up there with you throwing me to the wolves and letting me fend for myself."

"Are the wolves supposed to represent Sam and Callen?"

"Yes. C'mon Fern, try and keep up."

"Oh, I can keep up just fine. You know that."

"Wow. You're on a roll today, huh?"

"Nah. This is normal. Oh look! We're here." She quickly leaned over, kissing his cheek. The marriage may be real, but no one besides Hetty knew that. She opened the door and got out, waiting for him.

"Look. We'll figure something out later. We have more important things to worry about, okay? And if you really think that I'd let them hurt you – much less kill you – you obviously don't know me that well."

"Ha! Yeah, I knew that. Of course you wouldn't let them do anything to me. I was just testing you, you know, feeling you up. I mean out, feeling you out."

"Deeks. Stop."

He looked over at her while he opened the mission door, winking at her as she stepped inside. She chuckled, making sure to walk close enough to him that their shoulders touched every so often.

"So love birds. How was your weekend?" Callen dropped his pen on the desk, watching the two partners. He noted the closeness, but chalked it up to a weekend of partner bonding and nothing else. He knew the two had come a long way since Deeks had first arrived, and he was happy to see that the days of Kensi wanting to actually kill him were behind them.

"Not too shabby. Some take out, bad TV, and long walks in the rain."

"It didn't rain, Deeks." Sam raised his eyebrows at him.

"No? Oh, well, no wonder Monty was always dry when we came back. You know, he's pretty spry for an older dog. When we go running, I sweat like a… well, a dog, while he doesn't even break a sweat. Something is very backwards there."

Kensi sat down, listening to the others talk. She opened her computer and brought up her email before she got up, racing up the stairs. The men looked at her before following her, wondering what had just happened.

"Eric, bring up my email." The guys walked in as Eric brought up her email. He saw immediately what had brought her up here and clicked on the third email, bringing up pictures of her and Deeks the day before when they had taken Monty to the beach to play and letting Deeks surf some.

She noticed there were five of her alone as she sat on the blanket watching him, a few of Deeks kissing her and one of Deeks by himself.

Callen cleared his throat, looking at the two. Once he got their attention, he nodded his head towards the screen, silently asking _the_ question.

"What? Newlyweds kiss. You said make it convincing." Kensi raised her eyebrows at him when she answered. Callen responded by narrowing his eyes and tilting his head at them. When neither of them flinched, he just nodded his head and looked back at the screen. Deeks let out a soft sigh, knowing this was just the beginning.

"Well, it looks like someone's watching you. Nell, see if you can find out who sent the email. Eric, check all the traffic cams in the area and find out if we can get facial rec. Kensi, Deeks, I want you two to go over the case files again regarding Manuel and Juan Rodriguez. I know we're missing something here. Sam and I will go down to LAPD and see what we can find." They nodded at him and left OPS, knowing everyone had a job to do and quickly.

Three hours later, Deeks hollered, making Kensi jump.

"I found it! Who's the man? That's right! It's me! You should give your husband a kiss." He smiled over at Kensi who just shook her head.

"What did you find, Deeks?"

"Okay, so Juan said he knew people who knew people, right? Well, I think I found the link." He walked over, showing her a photo that had been taken. It was Juan and Manuel standing with a group of three other men before a buy. The other three men had been identified as known arms dealer in the area, but what everyone had failed to notice was the man standing in the back of the room, only his profile noticeable. Kensi looked closer, studying it before jumping out of her chair and kissing Deeks quickly.

"I knew I married you for a reason."

"I can think of several reasons right now, and I'll show you those later. But right now, let's go show Eric."

As luck would have it, Eric was just walking out of OPS on his way to get the two and met them at the top of the stairs.

"Oh. Hey. I was just uh-"

"We know who the link is."

Eric scrunched his eyes up, his head snapping over to Nell who shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, we found a link, too." Nell brought up what they had found on the screen. They watched as Kensi spread the blanket on the sand and sat down as Deeks kissed her before heading out to the water.

A few minutes later, a woman walked up and sat down at the tables about 20 feet from Kensi's spot. She fiddled with her phone for a minute before looking around. As she stood up, her phone rang and she answered it. The call lasted about six seconds before it ended. The woman sat back down and started pointing the phone towards Kensi, obviously taking the pictures. She sat there and waited a while until Deeks came back up, and the four of them watched as the woman pulled her phone out again, nonchalantly aiming it at Deeks as he stepped up to Kensi and then as he kissed her.

The mystery woman put her phone down and turned her back just as Deeks glanced over at her. You could see his gaze settle on her for a minute before pulling Kensi up and wrapping his arm around her, Monty trailing behind them as they walked to their car.

"So, who is she?" Deeks was leaning on the console, looking between Eric and Nell.

"Meet Sophia James." Deeks narrowed his eyes at the screen as his hands balled into fists. Kensi leaned against him for a second, the brief contact enough for Deeks for take a breath and calm down.

"Wife? Sister?" Kensi looked at Nell who nodded at her.

"Michael's sister. Also, current girlfriend of Stan Woods."

Deeks muttered a few colorful phrases under his breath as Kensi shook her head.

"Well, that explains why Stan was eavesdropping, Michael making an appearance at the wedding and her taking the photos. But how does that all tie back into Manuel and Juan Rodriguez?" Deeks gestured to all of the photos, wondering where all this would come together.

"We did a background check on her, and it turns out one of the guys that was killed the night the raid went down was her boyfriend. She had always been very careful not to make it public, but we were able to find one picture of them together, effectively completing the puzzle."

By the time Nell had finished talking, Sam and Callen walked in followed by Hetty.

"So, we know who and where the mole is. And by this point, they should know we are onto them." Callen turned towards Hetty. "James and Stan weren't at work today. We talked to a few coworkers and Michael James had been hanging around Stan long before he joined LAPD. Still working on how that started."

Hetty looked over at the screen.

"Well, the spray that Ms. Blye put on Mr. James shows he's been at home all day."

Callen and Sam made eye contact and Sam nodded a little before looking over at Kensi and Deeks.

"Okay you two. Keep your eyes open tonight. I guarantee the apartment is going to start being watched. If you notice something, call us immediately. This is going to end before it begins. I'm tired of these games."

By the time Sam was done, Callen had his arms crossed and Kensi and Deeks shared a small smile, each of them glad to be on the good side of this dysfunctional family.

Callen turned towards the Wonder Twins.

"Watch the traffic cams around his apartment. We know the vehicles they drive. It's a long shot because I know they won't be stupid enough to show up in their own cars but it's worth a shot."

Everyone nodded their heads and Kensi sighed, following the team out of OPS and walked to her desk. Deeks made eye contact with her and she grabbed her bag and headed out with him.

The drive home was filled with two people trying to scan their surroundings, both on edge now that they knew they were almost definitely being watched. What they didn't know was when and by whom. Deeks pulled into the parking space, glancing around. Kensi had already undone the seat belt and was out of the car, standing at the front of the car waiting on him. Once he was out, he locked the doors and grabbed her hand.

"There's a black van a block away with someone sitting in the driver seat." He whispered it into her hair, making it look like he was kissing her head. She answered with an 'mmmm' and continued walking up to the door, trusting him completely and not needing to make the visual confirmation.

Once the door was closed, Deeks immediately locked it and called Callen, letting him know about the van and Kensi called Eric. Nell checked the traffic cams in the area and saw exactly when the van pulled up and who was in the driver seat – none other than Sophia James.

By the time Sam and Callen had shown up, Sophia and the black van were gone. She obviously knew the area well because neither Eric nor Nell could find her on the traffic cams. Deciding on a new plan of action, the two partners headed up to Deeks's apartment.

Before he could knock, the door opened and Kensi looked at them.

"Nothing. Again." She walked away from the door, allowing the two senior agents to come inside.

"We will get them, Kens."

Sam stopped and looked around.

"What the hell happened in here? Where did all this stuff come from?" Kensi's eyes grew big as she looked at Deeks, who had the same guilty look on his face. Sam and Callen were both too busy looking around to notice, and Kensi immediately tried to save face.

"I wasn't sure how long I would be here. So, you know me and my hoarding tendencies, had to bring as much as possible." Deeks picked up on her train of thought and started shuffling his feet.

"I tried to talk her out of all this, but really, you guys know how it is. She's got a punch that will knock you on your ass, so I decided to just let it be." He winked over at her, hoping she wouldn't kill him later.

Callen and Sam just stood there watching them, knowing everything Deeks had said was true.

"Did you leave anything at your house, Kensi?" Callen smirked at her.

"Shut up Callen. Of course I left stuff at my house. When this is all over I will once again be surrounded by my perfectly normal amount of things." She looked over at Deeks. "Perfectly. Normal."

"Whatever you say, Princess."

"Okay you two. Let's get this figured out. I'm ready to go home."

"You know, G. Maybe you could ask Kensi for some stuff. You don't have any and she has too much."

Kensi picked up Deeks's cat pillow and threw it at Sam, who stepped out of the way just in time. The pillow ended up hitting the bookshelf behind him and knocked over a picture. Kensi rushed over to it, making sure she was the one who picked it up.

"Who's that?"

"Oh, just a picture. Glad the glass didn't break. I'm just gonna put it in our room for safe keeping." She rushed off and Deeks shook his head, knowing Sam and Callen would have picked up on the wording.

"_Our_ room?"

"Her room. My couch. My apartment. Her stuff over-crowding everything."

"She's only been here what 3, 4 days? It looks like some of this has been here longer than that."

"Of course it has. We have partner bonding nights. She inevitably brings things with her, loses and/or forgets it, then blames me for stealing it. Nature of the beast." This was going downhill quickly, and he prayed Kensi would hurry up so the not-so-subtle interrogation would end.

"We will be having a talk when all this is over." Sam narrowed his eyes at Deeks who just raised his eyebrows. They obviously thought they were figuring something out, and maybe in a way they were, but not to the extent they believed.

"What are we talking about?" Kensi hurried back into the room, looking at the three men and the tension she was pretty sure she could cut with a knife right now.

"How to get this over with." Sam said the words as he looked at Deeks. Deeks, for his part, just put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the couch, his eyes never leaving Sam's.

Kensi had had enough. She stepped in front of Deeks, breaking the eye contact between the two.

"We done here? Because I figured you guys stopped by for something a little more important than whatever is going on right now." She took her stance, arms folded and glared at the two men.

Callen coughed, breaking the awkward silence in the room. His action made Sam relax a little and Kensi stepped aside so Deeks would be included in on the plan.

"So, we figure they are trying to see if you guys have any kind of routine. I know we wanted this to be fast, but I think it will work a little better if we give it a few days, let them think you have a routine. Maybe Friday night, if the pattern holds, Kens you come home 'alone' that night and see if they do anything. If not, we will just keep watching and waiting and seeing if they decide to move the next Friday night." He stopped, looking at the two.

"That means you two are going to have to keep up the newlywed act. You okay with that?"

"I'm sure Deeks won't have a problem with it." Sam smirked at him, trying to make a joke and failing.

"Shut up Sam." Kensi glared at him. "We'll be fine."

"I know you will. Just… keep your eyes open and be careful." Kensi's gaze softened, knowing the two other men were only looking out for them.

"Always." They made their way to the door and Callen looked back at them.

"Call if you need anything. _Anything_. Got it?" They both nodded at him and he smiled, closing the door behind them as they left.

Kensi and Deeks gave them five minutes before sighing in relief and dropping to the couch. Deeks pulled her into his arms and just sat there holding her.

"We should have cleaned up a little. I think the guys are on to us."

"You don't clean Fern."

"You know what I mean." Deeks sighed again, knowing exactly what she meant.

"Well, too late for that now. Apparently Sam we-are-going-to-have-a-talk-after-this Hanna is catching onto something. But you know what? Maybe that's a good thing. The more they think they know, the better it will be when they hear the whole story."

"Sam might have an idea, but I bet Nell figures it out everything first. She _is_ the smartest one of the group."

"Nah. Sam's married with a child. He's going to put the pieces together first."

Kensi turned in his arms, straddling his lap and looked at him.

"Let's make it interesting… a bet if you will. If you're wrong, I want a nice dinner and a movie of my choosing."

Deeks's eyebrows shot up and he smirked at her.

"I'll see your bet and raise you a special dance."

"Pretty confident, huh?"

"Well, yeah. You may want to start practicing those moves for me darlin'."

"Deeks sweetheart, we both know I don't need to practice. You, on the other hand, may want to reach back in the vault of yours and loosen those hips up. Don't worry, it's like riding a bike."

Deeks shook his head at her, smiling. "I knew I shouldn't have told you that."

"You're the one who raised the stakes, Deeks, not me. No pouting either when I win." She winked at him before kissing him and got up, heading for the fridge to get them both a much needed beer.

"Hey babe? Want pizza?" Deeks held the phone up and she nodded at him. She listened as he rattled off the order and handed him the beer when he hung up. He saw the look in Kensi's eyes and knew what she was thinking about.

"I'm tired of the secrets too, Kens. Soon. This will be over soon, we will settle the bet and everything will be great." She wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his chest.

"I love you, Deeks." Deeks kissed the top of her head before replacing his lips with his cheek.

"I love you more Princess." He pulled away a little. "Now, I know the pizza will take a while. What do you say we practice some more honeymoon stuff?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her, making her laugh.

"I could use a shower." She turned, squealing when Deeks slapped her ass. The secrets and sneaking around might be getting to her, but she knew she wouldn't change a thing about it. This man - her husband – well, she'd bet on them making it any day. She just hoped the rest of the team would, too.

* * *

_AN - so...love it? hate it? something in between? Leave a review and let me know!_


	4. Chapter 4

_So here we go! Another chapter...not as long as the previous ones but I think it's got some good stuff in it._

_bookdiva is still away, so any mistakes you find are mine. justareader07 is pretty damn awesome figuring out my babble as I run things past him..so as always, a HUGE thank you to him for helping me put my random thoughts into a coherent story._

* * *

For the rest of the week, Sophia and the black van could always be found outside of the Deeks apartment. It wasn't always at the same time and she never parked in the same place, but Kensi and Deeks could always spot her. They had become routine in their home life. As soon as they got home, they would grab Monty, take him for a walk down to the beach, hang out for about an hour, come home and call in for take-out.

When Friday afternoon rolled around, Kensi knew she was going to have go home alone for the first time since this started. It wasn't that she couldn't take care of herself – she had been doing that for years – but knowing Deeks was there with her when they went home made the knot in the pit of her stomach lessen. She trusted him more than she had ever trusted anyone, and she knew he would always be there. Except tonight. She would have to enter their home - by herself - knowing there was someone out there that wanted her.

Deeks looked over at her as they packed up their things to leave. He nodded his head slightly towards the shooting range and she nodded, watching him walk away. She took a breath and followed him. As soon as Kensi pulled the door closed behind her, Deeks pulled his LAPD issued Beretta out of his waistband and handed it to her.

"Deeks, what –"before she could finish, he put his finger up to her lips, silencing her.

"Take it. Shoot it. Don't ask questions. Got it?"

Kensi just nodded her head and he took his finger away, replacing it with his lips. He felt her sigh and pulled back, loving the peaceful look on her face. She smiled at him as they both put the safety glasses and ear protection on. Kensi took her stance, firing the gun and hitting the target every time. When the clip was empty, Deeks pulled the ear protection off and walked up, watching as Kensi brought the target to them. Head shots, chest shots and a shot to the groin.

"Remind me never to be on the receiving end of that." He pointed to the target – specifically _the_ spot – and she laughed.

"Don't worry sweetheart. I'm pretty invested in you being whole." Deeks smirked at her as Sam and Callen walked in.

"Good shooting, Kens. Wait, is that Deeks's gun?" Sam pointed to the weapon on the table.

"Yep."

"Wow. Didn't think I'd ever see that. You, G?" Sam looked over at his partner who crossed his arms.

"Nope. Figured the day that happened would be the day they actually became more than partners." He tilted his head at them, smirking.

"I think you guys forgot we've been married a week tomorrow." Deeks took the challenge he saw in their eyes and threw it back at them.

"Fake marriage."

"Details." Deeks shrugged his shoulders, not backing down. He guessed that the two had figured out they were more than partners and were testing them now.

"Okay. We'll give you the point there, Deeks." Sam laughed a little, looking between the two, knowing Deeks had won this one. But he also knew that Callen's comment hadn't been far from the truth. Deeks would never have let Kensi shoot his gun in the past, and the level of intimacy that this gesture showed was more than telling.

"You ready for tonight Kens?" Sam turned his attention to her and she nodded.

"Bring it on." She walked passed them, leading the way to their desks.

"Now, we will be in the car around the corner. Hetty is letting us use the Tahoe since they are bound to know what cars we are normally in. Check in with us when you get there and then take Monty for a walk like normal. We'll be right there with you the whole time. As soon as you get inside from walking Monty, you've got two minutes to check in again before we follow suit. Got it? " Callen's words washed over her, and she felt a little better knowing the guys – especially Deeks – wouldn't be too far away.

"Got it." They all grabbed their bags, heading out the door. Eric and Nell were up in OPS monitoring traffic cams and getting more background info.

They had all learned that the man in the picture Deeks had found was Stan. He had just been introduced to the group and had met Sophia. Deeks and Kensi had never run into him during their time undercover because Stan had been working another case that had just by chance run across theirs, but from what they could gather that was when he had met Sophia.

Deeks walked Kensi to the car, leaning into the window.

"I don't like it."

"Deeks…"

"Kens, just… be careful, okay?" His eyes pleaded with her, letting them show the worry he held but knew wouldn't be received well right now.

"I will, Deeks. I know you and the guys won't be far, and I've heard I can be pretty bad ass when the occasion calls for it." She tried to smile at him, but it fell short.

"I'm serious Kensi. This guy wants you and we don't know what lengths he will go to get what he wants."

Kensi stared at him, her hand reaching over and grabbing his.

"Well, I've got something he doesn't have and it hasn't failed me yet."

Deeks tilted his head at her. "What's that?"

"You."

Deeks let out a breath, squeezing her hand. He wanted to lean over and kiss her, but he wasn't sure where the guys were. Instead, he opted for the famous Deeks smirk.

"Okay then. Now that the vote of confidence is back, what do you say we hopefully end this once and for all?" He winked at her, trying to lighten the mood a little. When she smiled – really smiled – he returned it, this time leaning in and kissing her quickly.

He let go of her hand when he heard the Tahoe pull up, knowing it was time to go separate ways.

"Remember Kens." He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Yeah yeah, I got it Shaggy."

Deeks turned and walked to the SUV. Once Deeks was in, she looked over at the guys, who nodded at her. She gave them a confident smile, put the car in gear and drove home.

* * *

Kensi had checked in when she got home, taken Monty for his nightly walk to the beach and headed back home. She knew something was off when she noticed a shadow at the window that disappeared quickly. She put her hand in her pocket, using her memory to get through the menus and shooting off a blind text to Deeks in hopes they would understand. She knew they'd get the message, and if she missed her check in, she had no doubt they'd come in guns blazing.

"Okay Monty. Looks like it's show time." She carefully opened the door, trying to act as normal as possible knowing someone was waiting for her. She had no idea who, or how many, just that there were people invading her home. Monty sensed the unwanted visitors and growled, the hair standing up on his neck.

"What is it, boy? Huh?" She pulled the gun from her pants but was a second too late. Strong arms grabbed her from behind, one taking the gun while the other put her in a choke hold. _Well, this will be interesting._

Her years of training kicked in, and she elbowed the man in his stomach hard enough to make him loosen his hold, which was exactly what she was looking for. As soon as she felt his arm lax, she turned, kneeing him in the balls. He crumpled quickly, cursing her as he did so. She quickly landed another kick to his head, leaving his limp body on the floor. She grabbed her gun and turned, ready to defend herself.

"Well well, Kensi, we meet again." Juan Rodriguez was sitting on her couch, watching her. "Impressive moves there. I should have known you wouldn't go down easy." She saw his eyes dart quickly behind her and without hesitating, she turned, shooting Stan in the chest. His shocked eyes turned lifeless as he fell. Suddenly, Juan was behind her grabbing her arms and locking them behind her so she couldn't use them.

Sophia stepped into her view, and Kensi watched as she stared at Stan on the floor. As soon as she looked away from him, Kensi saw the look of hatred shining in her eyes. Instead of being worried about it, she took it as a challenge. Juan had forgotten about the gun in her hands, more intent on securing her arms and she turned it slightly, pulling the trigger. The bullet ripped through his thigh and he screamed, instantly letting her go.

Sophia's expression changed as she charged Kensi, knocking her to the floor. The two wrestled for a minute before Sophia grabbed the gun that had been knocked out of Kensi's hand. Before Sophia could get the upper hand, Kensi used what strength she had left to punch her. Sophia rolled over, gun still in hand and went to stand up. Kensi anticipated this, and as soon as Sophia got her legs underneath her, Kensi rolled, kicking her in the stomach. Sophia fell back, landing on the coffee table which shattered. Kensi immediately stood up, putting her foot on the arm that held the gun and took it, aiming it at her head.

"Move again, and I won't hesitate to pull the trigger." Just as the words escaped her lips, the door burst open and the cavalry arrived.

"Okay, seriously? I sent that text like ten minutes ago. What did you do, stop for coffee?" She still had the gun trained on Sophia, letting Sam and Callen take care of Juan. Deeks rushed forward, gun raised as he took over for her.

"It was three minutes ago, and we got waylaid by Michael James stopping by to chat. Well, chat might be a loose term, seeing as he had a gun in his hand."

"Oh yeah? Well, sorry he missed the party."

"Not sure you needed any added guests." He scanned the area, seeing Monty guarding the unknown man still passed out on the floor in a fetal position, Juan bleeding, Stan dead and Sophia glaring at them both.

"Kensi, did you do what I think you did to that guy?" He nodded his head slightly to the right towards her first attacker. She just shrugged her shoulders at him, watching as he turned Sophia over and put the zip ties on her wrists.

"He should be glad a kick was all he got instead of a bullet."

"Touché."

Kensi opened her mouth to respond in her most favorite way when Deeks turned around, his hand up stopping her.

"Don't you dare."

Kensi glared at him before putting a smirk on her face, mouthing 'touché' back at him. Deeks threw his hands up before letting out a groan, making Kensi laugh a little.

Sam finished clearing the apartment, making sure there were no other surprises waiting for them. He put his gun away, cuffing the unconscious man. Eric had called EMS for them when they let him know that it was going down tonight, and they heard the sirens coming.

"Kens, you good?" Sam walked up to her, visually checking her over. Sometime during the scuffle with Sophia, she had been hit in the face, and she could feel her ribs starting to ache. The adrenaline was wearing off fast and she sat down on the floor.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Callen and Sam looked at each other and then over at Deeks. They all knew what that meant, and only Deeks would be able to get through to her.

"Nope. That doesn't fly Princess." Sam pulled Sophia up while Deeks kneeled in front of Kensi, making her look him in the eye.

"Okay, maybe 'fine' isn't entirely true. I'm gonna be sore as hell tomorrow, but nothing is broken." Deeks ran his hands up and down her arms, noticing the bruises that were starting to form.

"What happened here?" He looked at her, his eyes narrowed.

"Juan grabbed my arms and pulled them back behind me after I shot Stan. He was so focused on securing my arms so he didn't end up like big baby over there he forgot to take the gun." Deeks just laughed and shook his head.

"Jesus Kens." He was starting to come down off the adreneline high too, and he sat beside her, grabbing her hand, both of them needing the contact. She leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Glad you showed up when you did. If she decided to keep going I'm not sure I would have been able to last much longer." She whispered it to him, shocking him with the admission.

"Looks like you had it under control in here Fern." He wasn't going to say it out loud, but he hated that she had had to go through this alone. He may have been right outside, trying to get to her as soon as he could once he got the text, but so many things could have gone wrong.

They heard the paramedics coming in, and they reluctantly let their hands go. Deeks stood up, carefully helping Kensi up, too.

She looked around, noticing for the first time the destruction that was caused.

"Oh my God, Deeks." She looked over at him, apology in her eyes.

"Kens, don't worry about it. It's just stuff. What can't be cleaned can be replaced. And you said you didn't like the table anyway. Just gives us a reason to get a new one." She tried smiling at him, knowing he was doing what he could to make her feel better.

"Kensi, the only thing that matters is you. You're okay. You're alive. The good guys win again. I don't care about anything else, okay?" She nodded, and he opened his arms to her, relishing the feel of her. Neither of them cared right now about what the others would think.

Once the paramedics had taken care of Juan and 'big baby', the coroner taking Stan, and Sophia and Michael James secured in the boat shed, Kensi was exhausted. She sat down on the couch in the boat shed, laying her head back. Neither Sophia nor Michael were talking right now, and Kensi couldn't take it anymore. She needed food, she needed sleep… and she needed Deeks. When she felt someone sit down next to her, she opened one eye and looked at him.

"Sam and Callen said we can go home. They will stay and see if they can get any info. If not, we will just let them stew for a while and try again later. Our senior agents aren't going to be here much longer either." He stood up, taking her hand and pulling her up, too.

"Wait, the apartment…"she looked at him and he smiled.

"Don't worry. Pizza will be at your place in half an hour. That gives us a little time to get there and you can have a shower."

"God, you've thought of everything, huh?" He winked at her, putting his hand on her back and guiding her out the door. As they pulled out of the parking lot, Kensi looked over him, admiring his profile before a thought struck her.

"Hey, you said you got held up by Michael and a gun. What did you do with him?"

Deeks glanced over at her, smirking. "Sam punched him and I handcuffed him to the railing." His answer made Kensi laugh a little and she took his hand, closing her eyes for a minute.

Before they knew it, Deeks was pulling up to her old apartment. She didn't even open her eyes as he walked around to her side of the car, lifting her gently into his arms and carrying her inside. He placed her on the couch before opening some windows and turning the fan on to get rid of the musty smell. It had been at least a month since either of them had been there, and he knew it was time to let the place go. The only reason they had kept it was to keep up appearances to the team. But now, it wasn't worth it anymore. Each of them had been through too much in life, and it was time to face the wrath of their family and team and move on from it.

Kensi kept sleeping on the couch as Deeks pulled a beer out. He turned the TV on, scanning the channels for something to watch and opting for America's Next Top Model. They had already seen this episode, but it gave the place background noise.

Five minutes later, the knock on the door signaling the arrival of dinner, Kensi groaned. Deeks paid the delivery guy and closed the door, hurrying over to his wife.

"Hey sweetheart. Wake up baby. Food's here." He saw her eyes flutter before opening and looking at him.

"I can't move. You have to feed me." Deeks chuckled, shaking his head at her.

"Bad Ass Blye needs help?"

"Don't be stupid. Bad Ass Blye has already made her appearance today. Mrs. Marty Deeks wants her husband to take care of her now. You up for the task?" She raised her eyebrows at him, loving the smile that lit his face.

"Yeah, I think your husband can do that. In fact, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind taking on that job for the rest of his life."

"Good. Now, food. And beer." He laughed, standing up.

"Instead of Mrs. Deeks it should be Mrs. Bossy Pants."

"Aren't they one in the same?" Kensi sat up, taking the beer Deeks held out to her. "Thank you, Deeks."

"Anything for you babe." He grabbed a plate, put some pizza on it and held up a piece for her. She hadn't been serious about him feeding her, but it seems he was. She took a bite, sighing. It didn't matter what had happened earlier that day. Right now, life was good.

* * *

_AN - dropping a review on your way out would be fantastic! Hope you enjoyed it. :)_


	5. Chapter 5

_HUGE thanks to justareader07. There's no words for how awesome he is and the help and encouragement he dishes out on a regular basis._

_All mistakes are mine. Hope you enjoy this chapter._

* * *

Kensi woke up to something ringing. She reached over, slapped the alarm clock several times but to no avail. Groaning, she opened her eyes, seeing the dark room lit up. She grabbed the offending noise, hitting a button.

"What." Her voice was sleepy, and she was wanted to drift back off into dreamland.

"Hey Kens. We need you down at the boat shed." Callen's voice was entirely too chipper. "Wake up Deeks, grab some coffee and maybe some donuts."

Kensi was now awake, glancing over at her partner who was watching her.

"Okay, I'll call him and we will meet you there."

"Really Kens? Call him on his own phone?" She could hear Sam chuckling in the background, and she realized she'd answered the wrong phone.

"Shut up Callen. We'll be there shortly." She hung up the phone and buried her face in the pillow.

"Answered my phone, huh?" Deeks raised his eyebrows at her, watching his wife try and hide her embarrassment.

"You know, we've managed to keep this little secret to ourselves for 11 months now without giving anything away. 11 months, Deeks. And now, we've gotten married and the team is just now starting to realize we are more than just partners at work. At least we confirmed one suspicion they had." She lifted her face, looking at him.

"I think – just hear me out on this – that before we were so wrapped up in keeping 'us' a secret that we made every effort to keep it out of the office. And maybe if some crazy psycho hadn't wanted to take away the most important person in my life, we would have kept up the charade a little longer. But I can tell you this, it was a matter of time before we slipped up. And marrying you – well, that was inevitable. So we will finish this up, let the cat out of the bag, I'll win our bet and enjoy a nice date on you and then come home and get a personal dance." He leaned over, kissing her before she could retort. She kissed him back for a minute before pushing away.

"No way are you winning that bet. I can tell Nell is on her way to figuring it out." She climbed out of bed and headed towards the shower.

"Wait a second. We never defined what exactly they were figuring out. If we went with us being together, well, I've won since the guys know we romantically involved now."

"Nope, we said figure the whole thing out, meaning that not only are we together, but pretty soon they are going to have another Deeks in the office." Deeks tilted his head at her, wondering briefly if she meant her or something else.

"Me, Deeks. I mean me." She closed the door to the bathroom, chuckling as she heard him laugh.

* * *

They entered the boat shed twenty minutes later. After a night of sleep, both of them felt better and wondered what brought them here.

"So, what's going on?" Deeks looked at the guys who were sitting at the table.

"First things first. You two have something to say?" Sam leaned forward, arms on the table and watched them. Deeks and Kensi looked at each other, silently asking how much to give away before Kensi looked back at him.

"Nope." Sam just raised his eyebrow at her, head tilted.

"Don't give me that look Sam. It won't work. You guys seem to have everything figured out, so what else do you want?" Kensi folded her arms, glaring at him and Callen.

"How long?" Callen spoke up, looking at them.

"Is this why you brought us down here? Interrogation time?" Deeks spoke up this time, wondering what was going on.

Hetty walked in just then, stopping the line of questions.

"Enough everyone. We have a case to finish, and anything else can wait." She looked around the room, seeing the stances and looks on her teams faces. She knew that Callen and Sam were starting to figure out the complex relationship between the two younger partners, but they hadn't figured out everything.

"Right. So, we tried getting something out of Juan, but he's adamant that he won't speak to anyone but Kensi." Deeks tensed, hearing that. He looked over at Kensi who was shaking her head a little.

"Okay, but Deeks goes with me." He let out a small sigh, winking at her and turned back to the team.

"He may not talk with him in there." Callen knew the two of them worked better when they were together, but he wasn't sure that was going to work this time.

"He's right, Kens. You should probably at least start on your own. If need be, Deeks can come in later."

Kensi just rolled her eyes as she looked up at the ceiling. What they were saying made sense, but it didn't mean she had to like it.

"Fine." Deeks looked over at the guys at that one word that said more than anything else she could have said. He leaned over, whispering in her ear.

"I'm right here. Look in the camera if you need me." She nodded at him before walking towards the room, ready to get this over with.

"Ah, hello Kensi." Juan smiled at her, the look in his eyes chilling her, not that she'd tell him that.

"I'm here, just like you wanted. So talk." She sat down opposite of him, making sure to keep eye contact with him.

"Where's that husband of yours? Well, fake husband. I know the wedding was a set up. Really Kensi, who gets married without their own mother there? Julia, isn't it?"

Damn the man, she thought to herself. He had a point, she hadn't asked her mother to come for two reasons. One, she hadn't wanted her there if trouble went down, and two she hadn't known she was actually going to get married. She and Deeks were going to have a lot more explaining to do later.

Instead of answering, she just tilted her head at him.

"You know Kensi, you two were a lot better at playing the loving couple this time than last time we met. Is that because you two are actually together now? Is that why it looked a lot more natural?"

Kensi sighed at him. "Listening to your theories is fascinating, but if that's all you're going to do, I'm done here." She got up and had her hand on the door knob when he stopped her.

"No need to be hasty Kensi. I'll talk, but only because I want to look at you a little longer."

She turned, wordlessly sitting back down and stared at him.

"You killed my uncle." His voice had gone cold, eyes stony. "And for that, I wanted you to pay. Exactly how I wanted you to pay, I wasn't immediately sure. Kidnap you, yes. But what to do from there? How did I want to get my revenge? Well, beautiful Kensi, use your imagination on that one."

That was enough for Deeks. He saw Kensi stiffen and glance quickly towards the camera and he was opening the door before she could look back at Juan.

"Detective Marty Deeks. So glad you could join us." Juan sat back, eyeing the two. "You know, I wanted to talk to Kensi alone."

"Too bad." He sat down in the chair in the corner, his stance relaxed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You care for her. You know deep down she's going to leave you one day. She's not one who stays for very long."

Deeks knew if this conversation had been a few months earlier, he would have felt his heart rate speed up a little at the nagging feeling he'd always had in the back of his mind. But now, it wasn't just his partner in the room with him, but his wife, and neither of them were going anywhere.

"Hey. Juan. Back to the story." Kensi's voice cut through, and Juan chuckled a little as he brought his eyes back to hers.

For the next half hour, Juan put all the pieces of the puzzle together for them. He started out with how his uncle had become suspicious of them and had first used blackmail to get Stan to get the information he needed. Stan had quickly grown accustomed to the money he was getting for leaking intel, and soon the blackmail material was forgotten.

He seemed to answer the questions honestly, and was forthright with details. He particularly enjoyed the part where he had used Sophia for his own personal pleasure and how he had pictured doing those things to Kensi. The plan was to kidnap Kensi, and when the team finally found her, they would all go out in a blaze of fiery glory. Sophia had convinced both Stan and Michael to help with the plan, becoming Stan's lover as well as Juan's to make sure they could have access to the information they needed.

By the time he was done, both Kensi and Deeks were sick to their stomachs, but you couldn't tell by looking at them. Deeks kept his body relaxed and Kensi looked bored.

"Well, looks like it didn't go according to plan, now did it Juan?" Deeks smiled at him and went to stand up.

"Maybe not all of it, but you did get rid of Stan for me. He was beginning to be a menace and also quite the jealous lover. I think he was starting to get suspicious of me and Sophia." He turned his head, looking at Kensi. "But she will never be you. No matter how many times I had her, I always wanted you."

"You're disgusting. You were never going to have me. Why the hell would I want you when I've got him?" She lifted her shoulders at him when she pointed to Deeks, standing up and following her husband out the door, both of them shuddering as soon as they were out of his sight.

As they rejoined their team at the table, no one was able to really say anything. After a few minutes, it was finally Sam who spoke up.

"Well, we've got all the info we need now to get convictions on Juan, Sophia and Michael." Callen nodded, looking over at Hetty.

"Yes we do, Mr. Hanna. Good work everyone. Now, how about we meet up tonight for drinks on a job well done." She rattled off the name of a bar down the road and told everyone they had the rest of the afternoon off.

* * *

The entire team had finally shown up, and Hetty was the first to buy rounds. After congratulating everyone on getting another mission completed, they all downed their shot. Kensi bought her and Deeks a beer after that, and they sat there at the table talking about past aliases and old cases.

Sam and Callen told amusing stories about cases they had done before Kensi had arrived, and by the time they had finished one about Callen going in as a hair-dresser, there wasn't a person at the table who could stop laughing.

Deeks had grabbed Kensi's hand sometime during the story, and they sat there comfortably as the team snuck glances at them. This was the first time Nell and Eric had seen the affection between the two, although they had their own thoughts on it. Since nothing was being said about it, they decided everyone was okay with the new status of the two partners.

Eric was the next to buy rounds, and when he brought the drinks back, he stood up to make a toast.

"I just gotta say, you guys are pretty incredible. Combined, we are unstoppable. Here's to us." He raised his drink with everyone and downed it.

"I uh, also want to say that you guys are taking the news of the marriage a lot better than I expected."

Kensi and Deeks both spit their drinks out, Sam started choking on his and Callen about fell out his seat. Eric was confused about the reaction until he noticed Nell just staring at him.

"What?"

"What marriage, Eric?" He paled, finally understanding no one else knew.

"Uh, I don't know what you're talking about. What marriage? Oh, that marriage. You know, the one between uh… those two characters on that show I watch. I just thought you all watched it too." There was a reason Eric didn't do undercover, because lying was not his thing.

"What show would that be, Eric?" Sam asked the question but was watching Deeks and Kensi.

"I uh… I think it's called Bones." Eric was starting to sweat now, knowing the others could see through him.

"Are you sure it was on a show, Eric?" Callen had caught himself before he fell off the chair, and was now staring at the tech operator, eyes narrowed at him.

"Of course." Eric coughed, picking up his beer and taking a drink. "Who else would I be talking about?" Callen's eyes darted to Kensi and Deeks.

"Oh, you think I was talking about them? No, no not at all. They're together? Wow, Nell, did you know that Kensi and Deeks were a couple? Crazy how things turn out, huh?" His rambling kept going, and he knew he had blown it. Nell was just shaking her head, Sam looked like he was going to start cracking knuckles, Callen was being silent as he stared at the other two, and both Kensi and Deeks had their heads down, hands still clasped together. Finally, after receiving some kind of silent signal, they both looked up and over at Eric.

"How did you know?" Deeks looked at him, wondering how he knew more than anyone else, besides Hetty.

"It's true?" Callen watched the two and Kensi nodded at him. All eyes turned to Eric then, wanting to know how he had figured it out.

"I, well, I went to my cousin's wedding about a month ago. Then, when we set up the fake wedding between these two, I set up everything with the priest. We talked about the wording that would be used, and when it was changed to the traditional vows, I knew that it was real. Besides, how did you guys miss the looks they've been giving each other for months now?" He looked around the table, everyone except Hetty looking more than a little surprised.

"They're Kensi and Deeks. When _haven't_ they given each other looks?" Sam spoke up, everything clicking into place now; the way Kensi didn't push Deeks away anymore when he touched her, the things at his house. Well, their place now.

"How long have you guys been together?" Callen sat back, taking the beer and finishing it off before putting the empty bottle down a little harder than normal on the table. He wasn't upset that they had obviously been together a lot longer than he and Sam thought. No, he was upset that they had kept their relationship a secret, getting married without anyone none the wiser – letting everyone think it was fake when it wasn't.

"Almost a year." Kensi's words were quiet as she looked at the man she considered her brother, knowing he wasn't happy with the status quo right now. Deeks squeezed the hand he was still holding, letting her know he was there.

"I just… I mean… you…"Callen couldn't get the words to form. He took a breath before trying again.

"Why?" He looked at Kensi, his eyes never leaving hers.

"We wanted to show you we could still be partners, that our outside life wouldn't affect our jobs. After a few months, we talked about telling you all, but then it just… time kept going by, and before we knew it, Juan was looking for me." She looked over at Deeks, who nodded at her and picked up where she had left off.

"I asked her to marry me that day in the church, right before the ceremony. We knew we were going to have some explaining to do, but we didn't tell you then because we weren't sure what the reaction would be. If you were upset about it, then that would cloud the focus on the mission which was keeping Kensi alive. And I will choose that over anything else every time, no matter what."

Sam nodded in understanding. He would do the same thing for Michelle, because nothing was more important to him than keeping her safe. If it meant lying to people he loved, so be it.

They all watched as Kensi pulled the necklace from around her neck and Deeks reached into his pocket, each of them holding their wedding rings in their hands. Deeks took hers, sliding them on her finger and Kensi did the same for him. They stared at each other for a minute before Hetty cleared her throat.

"Well, I do believe one more toast is in order. To Mr. and Mrs. Marty Deeks. May you both enjoy a long and prosperous life filled with nothing but love and happiness."

A round of 'here here' was heard and everyone drank. It wasn't the way they had planned to tell the team about the marriage, but it was out there now.

As they all stood to leave about an hour later, Kensi stopped Callen before he could get into his car.

"Hey. Callen, I'm sorry. He's… and I… we never meant to hurt anyone." He quickly pulled her to him, hugging her. She responded, wrapping her arms around him.

"It's okay, Kens. Surprised, yes. Hurt – well, maybe a little." He pulled away and Kensi watched him.

"Which part?" She looked at him, knowing he knew what she was asking.

"I just always imagined I could be the one to give you away when that day came." He put his hands on shoulders, seeing the tears in her eyes.

"But, at least I was there for it. I may not have known it was real, but I was there." He took a step to her, kissing her forehead.

"This isn't how I imagined you finding out. But I love him. And he would die before hurting me." She looked at him, silently asking for his blessing on it. She could live without it, but it wouldn't be the same.

"As long as he makes you happy, that's what matters. And I can see that he does that. He has for a long time, pretty much from the start." He smiled at her, letting her know it was okay.

"I don't know about from the start, but he does make me happy." She grinned back at him, and he laughed.

"I think you've forgotten something. _Stuck, smitten, whatever_. That ring a bell? So yeah, from the start." She rolled her eyes at him, remembering very well the moment she had met her husband.

She watched as Callen climbed into his car, rolling the window down.

"He hurts you, husband or not he answers to me and Sam." Kensi laughed at him.

"Yeah yeah, he already knows that. But you're gonna have to wait in line behind me." Callen smirked at her and waved as Kensi turned and started walking back to her car.

Deeks was there waiting for her, leaning against it with his arms crossed watching her.

"Good talk with Callen? Do I need to be looking over my shoulder for crazy ninja assassins to kill me? Any Russian mobsters coming to chop me up into little pieces?"

"I'd be more worried about a team of Navy Seals taking you out in the middle of the night. Sam's probably got some favors to call in." She stopped when she was in front him, waiting for him to smile.

"Seriously Kens. How pissed is he?" She sighed as she saw the worry in his eyes.

"Not pissed for the reasons you think he is. He's more hurt that he didn't know, and that he didn't get to walk me down the aisle." She saw the pain flash in his beautiful blue eyes, understanding now why their team leader hadn't been too pleased.

He opened his arms, letting Kensi walk into them and wrapping their arms around each other.

"We've uh… damn we've got to tell your mom."

"Yeah, I know. Soon."

"Tomorrow?" Kensi pulled back, looking at him and nodding.

"Tomorrow."

* * *

_AN - so, a little unsure about this chapter. Good or bad, I'd love to hear what you thought about it._


	6. Chapter 6

_There aren't enough words for how awesome justareader07 is. From listening and figuring out what I'm wanting to say to offering advice and ideas, thank you just isn't enough._

_Disclaimer - not mine._

* * *

"She's going to be so pissed." Kensi looked out the window as Deeks drove them to her mom's house.

"Maybe not." Deeks looked over at her and she snorted at his answer.

"We got married, Deeks. Over a week ago. And she wasn't there. We became engaged and married within an hour."

"Well when you put it like that…" Deeks smiled over at her, trying to get his wife to calm down a little.

After the rollercoaster last night, and Callen opening up to her a lot more than what was normal for either one of them, they had this one last hurdle to jump. He knew that Julia was going to be upset about not knowing about it and not being there for the wedding, but he was counting on her wanting Kensi to be happy and understanding the reasons behind the hasty ceremony.

Kensi just sighed, leaning her head back against the seat. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts she missed the first part of Deeks's sentence.

"… and you can wear that sexy police woman outfit I saw in the back of the closet the other day." She turned her head sharply, eyebrows raised.

"What?"

"The bet. I obviously won. I was just suggesting your dance attire."

"You didn't win. I won."

"What? How do you figure that? Sam obviously knew, judging by his lack of surprise."

"Deeks, that doesn't mean you won."

"Well please, explain how you think you are the rightful winner." He smirked at her, seeing that his plan to distract her from Julia's reaction was working.

"Eric is Nell's partner, therefore, an extension of Nell, making me the clear winner here."

"Eric is in no way an extension of Nell. Partner's yes. But he is his own entity."

"You're kidding, right?"

"When sexy dances are on the line, I never kid."

Kensi just shook her head at him as they pulled up to her mom's house. As soon as he parked the car, she leaned over, kissing his cheek.

"I see what you did there. Thank you." He just winked at her as they got out of the vehicle. As soon as she met him at the front of the car, he grabbed her hand.

"Two things. One – I have no idea what you're talking about. Two – it's going to be fine."

"Fine?" She tilted her head at him, his use of the infamous word not escaping her.

"In this case, yes, it will be fine. I know it will be a shock, but in the end, she wants you to be happy."

Kensi took a breath, nodding her head at him. She started walking up to the door, and just as she knocked her looked over at Deeks.

"By the way, the bet winning discussion isn't over yet." He laughed at her, making Kensi smile and lean in to kiss him just as Julia opened the door.

"It never ceases to amaze me that you two always seem happy and enjoying inside jokes only you two understand." Julia smiled at the two, loving the way they always seemed to be smiling and simply just being together.

In the months that they had been an actual couple, Julia had seen the transformation her daughter had made. The first few months Kensi had been very reserved, making sure to not touch Deeks while she was there. The one time Julia had opened the door and saw Deeks leaning over to kiss her daughter's cheek, Kensi had blushed redder than a tomato. But slowly, like a flower opening it's petals for the first time, Kensi came out of her shell. She started holding his hand more in her presence, opening up about little things Deeks did for her to show her he cared. Deeks, for his part, would simply smile and always find reasons to touch her, and once she started getting more comfortable, he didn't have to find reasons because Kensi would be the one to grab his hand or kiss his cheek.

But even without the outward affection, you could see that these two were drawn to each other like moths to a flame. Even now, a year later, they were still tethered at the hip, where one was the other was always nearby. Julia had watched in utter fascination at the looks they would send each other, the silent exchange having more depth and meaning than anything they could say out loud. There were times she had had to clear her throat to get them to come back, and they would both blush making her laugh. Whatever it was, the connection between them was clear, and she knew there was no one else who could make her daughter open up this much or make her this happy than Marty Deeks.

As the two walked in, Julia turned and closed the door. Kensi waited and then wrapped her mom in a hug. Julia didn't hesitate, wrapping her arms around her. The hug wasn't unusual, but the intensity of it was. Kensi held on a little tighter, a little longer than normal before pulling away.

"So, what brings you two over today?" She smiled at Deeks and started walking to the kitchen, wanting to make sure nothing burned. She had made lasagna when she found out that Kensi and Deeks were coming over today, and she knew this was one of her daughter's favorites.

"Smells amazing in here, mom. You know, you didn't have to go through all this trouble."

"No trouble at all sweetie. You know I love cooking, and I never pass up the chance to make this." She busied herself with the salad and getting the garlic bread ready. She could see in their eyes something was going on, and she was worried about the news they would deliver to her.

"Can I help you with anything?" Kensi and Deeks both walked over to the sink and washed their hands, ready to lend a hand.

"Um, sure. Kensi, if you want to cut up these veggies for the salad that would be great. Marty, I have all the stuff ready for banana pudding if you want to put it together?" She looked between the two and smiled.

"I would be honored." She handed him everything he needed and listened as he teased Kensi about her non-cooking skills. This was a normal kitchen conversation; every time they would come over, he would end up making comments about Kensi's lack of cooking knowledge. The two would always bicker, and even though some of her daughter's comments would sound harsh, the twinkle in her eyes and smile on her face showed that this was nothing out of the ordinary.

Soon, everything was ready and the table was set. As they sat down and enjoyed the meal, talk was light. Julia was waiting on the ball to drop, knowing something was up. After dinner was over Julia put her hands together on the table and looked at them.

"Spit it out." Deeks immediately looked at Kensi, gulping.

"What are you talking about?" Kensi was trying to play it cool, but she couldn't keep the tremor out of her voice. She knew show time had arrived.

"Something is going on. Just tell me." Julia gave them a smile, letting them know she could take it.

"Wemayhavegottenmarried." Kensi's voice was soft, almost a whisper and Deeks grabbed her hand.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Julia furrowed her brows, looking across the table at the pair.

"We ummm... " "It just..."

They started talking at the same time and then stopped and looked at each other. Kensi gave a small nod and turned back towards her mom.

"We're married, mom."

Julia didn't say anything for a minute, simply looking back and forth and her daughter and now apparently son-in-law. She had no idea what to say right now, so Kensi decided to keep going.

"It's not... it was -" She sighed. This was not going the way she thought.

"What she's trying to say is we were in the middle of a mission. We were posing as an engaged couple and in hopes to catch the bad guys, we had a fake ceremony. Or so everyone thought. I asked Kensi that morning to marry me. We talked to the priest who was going to do the service if he would go forward with the actual ceremony and he agreed. No one knew what was going on until after the investigation was completed... which was yesterday."

"Wait - so no one knew you two were having a real ceremony?"

Kensi shook her head, maintaining the eye contact as Deeks squeezed her hand.

"Mom. I know this is crazy, and a huge shock to you. This is not... well, who really plans on getting married in secret like that? But this amazing man is my husband now, and even though the way it happened was unconventional, I wouldn't change it. He's the best part of me, and I couldn't imagine a life without him."

Julia's eyes filled a little, knowing that her daughter was right. They weren't two people in this world who were more perfect for each other than them. They would each love the other until their last breath. And as a mother, she couldn't ask for more than that - to know that her daughter had found her ever after with a man more than deserving. But her heart still ached a little at that thought of what she had missed. The team may not have known it was real, but they had still been there to witness it.

"Julia, I uh... I know this is a lot to process right now. And if I could have changed anything about how it happened, I would make sure you were there. I'm sorry." Deeks looked at his mother-in-law, letting her see the sincerity in his eyes. She just nodded at him.

"I just need a minute." She gave a small smile and stood up, heading to kitchen.

As soon as she was out of sight, Kensi laid her forehead down on the table.

"She hates me now."

"Kens, she doesn't hate you. She probably hates me, though. I am the guy that corrupted you and made you get married without your mom there. Why didn't we think of that at the time?"

"Juan called me out on it, too, in the boat shed." Kensi's voice sounded defeated, so Deeks laid his head down on the table too, turning towards her.

"In our defense, it's not like we knew ahead of time that we were going to get hitched."

Kensi groaned just as Julia came back in the room.

"You know, Kensi, I am pretty sure I taught you better manners than to lay on a table. Especially during a celebration. Some might see it as rude."

The two popped up, Kensi looking guilty and Deeks chuckling at her. Julia was standing in the doorway, a tray with three flutes of champagne on it. She put it on the table and handed them a glass before taking one herself.

"Well, since I didn't get to do this before, I guess it's better late than never, right? To my beautiful daughter and son-in-law. I wish you both nothing but years of love and happiness. It's not the most ideal situation, but I've never wanted anything more than for you to be happy. I love you both." She saw Kensi's eyes fill with tears as they all clinked the glasses together and taking a sip.

Kensi put her glass down and walked around the table, pulling her mom into a hug. "I love you."

"I love you, too, honey." When Kensi pulled back, she kept her arm around her mom, each of them turning towards Deeks.

"So, I'm curious. What did the team say when they found out?"

Deeks coughed and cleared his throat.

"Wow, yeah, that's a good question. Funny story actually. Um... how to put this? They didn't know we were a couple before this, so. The whole marriage thing, it was kind of a shocker, really."

Julia's head snapped towards Kensi.

"They didn't know you guys were together?"

"Nope."

"But... why?"

"It started out as us wanting to show them that we could be a couple and partners, too. But after a while, it just - well, we never told them. Then this case came along, and we knew we wanted to tell them everything, but decided to wait until it was over to keep the focus on the mission and not our relationship."

Julia could tell by the use of words what Kensi wasn't telling her.

"You wanted them to focus on the mission because it involved you, didn't it?"

Deeks locked eyes with Kensi, both of them knowing they couldn't discuss details.

"It's okay. I know you can't say anything." The two let out an audible sigh, each of them glad she wasn't asking for more.

"Well, I know it wasn't conventional, at all, but I'm happy for you." Julia stopped, looking at her daughter. "All that matters, all I want for you, is to be happy."

"I am, mom."

"I know you are. And that's the only reason I'm okay with missing it." She gave her daughter a smile which Kensi returned before kissing her cheek.

Deeks had walked up and wrapped his arm around Julia.

"I couldn't have asked for a better mother-in-law." Julia laughed at him, patting his arm.

"You are too much, Marty."

"Well, since the news is out there now, I still have a beating heart and I know my lovely wife is about to succumb to her sweet tooth, how about dessert?" The ladies laughed at him as he walked to the kitchen and got out the banana pudding, glad that the truth was out there for everyone.

Deeks got everything ready for the dessert and was about to enter the dining room when his _impeccable_ hearing caught something that made him stop.

"I'm happy for you sweetie, I am, it's just…"

"What?"

"I know we haven't always had the best relationship, but the last couple of years I feel like we've come a long way."

"Mom –" Julia tried to shrug it off, shaking her head at Kensi.

"No, it's okay. I'm just being emotional. I mean, my baby is married. And to the man I always knew you would end up with." She gave Kensi a smile. She didn't want her to feel guilty about anything. With their jobs and the risks they take, she knew they both deserved to take the happiness and love they were given and live each day like it was the last.

"You knew we'd end up together? How could you know that?"

"Eyes Kensi. Anyone with a pair could see that you two belong together. I guarantee if you ask anyone on your team they will tell you the same thing." For a split second, Julia's smile faltered and Kensi could see the flash of pain in her eyes. If she wasn't a very special Agent, Kensi would have missed it. Instead, she grabbed her mom's hand.

"Please tell me, mom."

"Kensi, it's nothing. Really. I'm fine." Kensi snorted at the phrase.

"You know, anytime I say 'I'm Fine', Deeks calls me on my bullshit. So, I'm calling you on yours." She squeezed her hand, asking her without words to talk.

"I've missed so many years, baby. At the time, I was bitter about it. But looking back, I know you were with the best person you could be, because your father loved you more than anything and understood you better than I ever could. But I guess after this time we've had together _now_ that when the time came for you to get married, that I would be there to help you, even if it was just getting a dress and watching you walk down the aisle."

"Oh mom…" Kensi's eyes watered again, wishing for the same things.

"Kensi baby, it's okay. I know that the job you and Marty have – well, you don't know if you will return together at the end of the day or not. And he loves you. So much, Kensi. Just as I know that you love him. So when this came up, I can appreciate grabbing the opportunity and running with it. So, please believe me when I tell you it's okay." Julia hugged her daughter again.

"Okay."

Deeks took that as his cue to enter the room. He cleared his throat a split second before coming in and he saw the looks on both their faces. He gave Kensi a questioning look, not wanting to give away he had heard everything. His wife just shook her head at him and he decided to let it go for now.

The rest of the evening went by smoothly. Now that everything was out in the open, the newly married couple took their rings out and wore them proudly, Julia glancing at them often and smiling. Before they knew it, it was late and the partners took their leave and headed out.

When they got in the car, Deeks looked over at her.

"Well, it went a lot better than I thought."

"What? You're the one who said it was going to be okay!"

"For you, yes. She's your mom. But castration was on the list of things that could have happened to me, and I was hoping it wouldn't come to that."

"Deeks."

"What?"

"Really? Castration?"

"Possibilities were endless my dear." Kensi just shook her head laughing at him. Things would never be dull, that's for sure.

"So… about the bet." Deeks decided to broach the subject again.

"What about it? You ready to shake it for me?"

"I still maintain that I'm the clear winner here."

Kensi knew he wouldn't give up easily, so she very carefully brought her hand up to her neck, touching the skin. Very slowly, she drew her finger down to her chest, undoing another button on her shirt.

"You sure, baby?" She almost purred at him and he knew, at that very moment, he would do whatever she wanted.

"Yeah, no. What?" Kensi leaned over, letting him have a clear view down her shirt. She could see him having a hard time concentrating on driving, and upped the ante again. Taking her hand, she put it on his thigh, making him jump. She schooled her features not to laugh – really, she had done nothing but put her hand on his leg – and gave him the most seductive look she could muster.

"If you give it up, declare that I'm the winner, I know how to make it worth your while."

Deeks just nodded his head at her, not caring that he had lost the bet, owed her a dance as well as dinner and a movie. He would have given in, anyway. But he knew if he held out, he would get a lot more in return. And just like he predicted, she raised the stakes and he admitted defeat. And now he would be getting something in return. Life was good.

* * *

Deeks laid awake most of the night, his thoughts dominated by the beautiful brunette next to him. He knew Julia wanted her daughter to be happy, but they had both caught the look of pain in her eyes when she found out about the hasty marriage she knew nothing about. Of course she had understood about the assignment and that it was a spur of the moment decision, one that neither of them would have changed. But he also realized just how selfish it had been. While the team had been there, they hadn't known they were witnessing an actual marriage between the two. And now, Julia had missed out not only on planning a wedding with her only daughter, but also in attending it. And then Deeks was hit with a thought.

He kissed Kensi softly on the head before crawling out of bed, careful not to wake her. Making his way to the kitchen, he started the coffee and pulled the ingredients out for pancakes. He set everything on the counter and glanced at the clock on the wall. 5:43 Am. He knew if he tried to wake Kensi up before 9am, she would very likely kill him.

He waited a few minutes for the coffee to finish, left a note on the counter and grabbed Monty's leash. As he headed out the door, he couldn't help but smile. They may have done things ass backwards, but he knew there was a way to make things a little better.

He and Monty watched the sun come up over the water and when he looked down, he saw it was almost 7:30am. He whistled for Monty and headed back, ready to put his plan into action. After making a quick stop at the mom-and-pop florist next to the apartment, he finally opened the door to their place, thankful his kick ass wife didn't look to be awake yet. He hurried and mixed the ingredients together for the pancakes, and before he knew it, he had a heaping plate of his wife's second favorite breakfast ready.

He poured a cup of coffee, put the flowers in a vase and loaded it all on a tray carrying it to the bedroom and set it down next to the bed.

"Good morning beautiful." He sat down next to her, watching as she tried to snuggle deeper in to the blankets. He waited a few seconds, laughing to himself as she tried and failed to fall back asleep.

"I smell pancakes." She hadn't moved or opened her eyes, and he just shook his head.

"They could be all yours if you decided to wake your happy ass up." She pulled her arm out of the blanket and before he knew what was happening, she whacked his bicep.

"Really Fern? I make you breakfast and you resort to violence?"

Kensi rolled over, finally opening her eyes and looking at him. His voice held a pout but his eyes were shining and the smile he gave her lit up the room.

"You are entirely too awake and chipper right now."

"It's a beautiful day. I get to fall asleep and wake up next to you. Life is good." He leaned over, kissing her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to pull him down into bed with her but he had other plans.

"I would love nothing more than to spend the morning waking you up properly, but I had something else in mind, starting with food." Kensi narrowed her eyes a little at him, wondering what he was doing. She sat up as Deeks leaned over, grabbing the tray and putting it before her.

Kensi was speechless. In front of her was a large cup of coffee, a vase full of beautiful flowers and a plate of Deeks's famous pistol shaped pancakes. But it's what was written on the pancakes that had tears coming to her eyes.

"I love you Kensi Marie Deeks. You and I have already said the words, each vowing to love and protect each other for the rest of our lives. But looking back, even though I wouldn't change anything about it, I want to do it right. I want our family and friends to all be there, knowing exactly what's going on. No assignments, no secrets, no pretenses."

Spelled out in chocolate chips on her pancakes were the words MARRY ME. Kensi tried blinking back the tears in her eyes as she looked between the beautiful words written out for her and the man who wanted to marry her all over again.

"I mean, you can't say no Princess. We're already married you know." He smiled at her, knowing he had caught her off guard but also realizing he couldn't let this moment go by without a little ribbing.

"Well, when you put it like that. Do I have a choice?" She winked at him and went to lie back down, laughing at the look on his face.

"Kens…"

"YES! Deeks… yes - over and over and over again yes." He moved the tray, pulling her into his arms and kissed her like there was no tomorrow. Breakfast was quickly forgotten, passion overriding hunger as the two became lost in the moment, needing nothing and no one but each other.

* * *

_AN - reviews mean the world to me. I would LOVE to know what you thought of this chapter. Thank you EVERYONE for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it._


	7. Chapter 7

_HUGE thank you to justareader07. Not only for looking it over but having endless patience with me._

_Disclaimer - characters and NCIS LA aren't mine._

* * *

Walking into the OPS Monday morning, they decided to put their plan into action. They wanted to tell everyone, including Julia, about their upcoming plans, but instead of doing it separately, they wanted to make one big announcement.

Hand in hand, they walked towards their desks, Deeks leaning in quickly and kissing her before letting go, setting his bag on the floor and taking his seat. Kensi just stood there a minute, a small smile on her face. It was the first time they had shown affection to each other at work, and while they both knew they had to keep it professional, Kensi couldn't help but like the feeling it left her.

Deeks saw the smile on her face as she sat down. He knew he was risking life and limb – not to mention rights to the bed – when he kissed her, but the fact that everything was out in the open now was too much to pass up.

"Wow, this is a first. Kensi and Deeks beat us here." Sam smiled at them as he walked up, taking his place next to Deeks.

"I see marriage agrees with you. Definitely helps your time management." Callen smirked at them as Deeks shook his head laughing.

"Now, wait a second. Marriage has nothing to do with my time management."

Callen sat down, linking his hands behind his head as he sat back in his chair.

"Sure it does. Kensi is never late, and now that you two are… well, as official as you can get, it's only right to the think she will drag your shaggy butt into work each day on time instead of arriving separately."

Kensi just shrugged her shoulder and looked at her computer. Callen had a point. They had always been painfully careful about their arrivals, making sure to only come in together once in a while. But she enjoyed this feeling, not having to hide anymore.

Deeks just looked at her and cleared his throat.

"Okay, back to the point."

"Wait, there's a point?" Callen looked over at Sam.

"A point to what?"

"The only thing I remember talking about was Deeks's tardiness."

Sam nodded his head before looking back at his shaggy neighbor. Kensi snorted and looked over at her husband, enjoying the sparkle in his eyes.

"Well, if you had given me a minute before rudely interrupting, you would have heard the point I was trying to make."

Callen smirked at him, using his hand to gesture that he had the floor.

"Kensi and I are having a dinner tonight… kind of like a belated reception, but not really. We would really love if you all would come."

"Is she cooking?" Callen looked over at Kensi who was glaring at him, making Deeks chuckle.

"Don't worry, she's not in charge in the kitchen, just in the –"

"Damn it, Deeks, we said no details. Ever."

"What? You guys need to calm down, seriously. I was going to say in the car, because really, have you ever tried changing the damn radio off the techno station? It's impossible, and I gave up a long time ago." He winked at his wife, watching the blush on her cheeks. She knew exactly what he was thinking and she just shook her head at him.

"So, you guys in?" Kensi looked over at Sam and then Callen, thinking of different blackmail things she would dredge up if she had to to get them to come. They wanted to do this as a group, as a family, and that meant everyone had to be there.

Luckily, blackmail wasn't necessary. Sam and Callen both readily agreed to come, as did Eric, Nell and Hetty. After making a quick call to her mom to make sure she would be available, too, the evening's festivities were almost complete.

BREAK *

"Kensi, seriously babe, you look fine. Great. You look amazing, as always." He stopped his wife from changing into yet another outfit by wrapping his arms around her.

"What are you so nervous about?" He looked her in the eyes, seeing the slight panic there.

"I don't know. It just feels like… it's stupid."

"If it's bothering you, it's not stupid."

"It's like we're telling them for the first time. I know everyone already knows, but it was so fast and so sudden last time. What if no one thinks this is a good idea?"

Deeks saw the look of worry and kissed her, wanting nothing more than to take her insecurities away. When she finally sighed and leaned into it, he knew that at least some of his plan was working. When he pulled back, he brought his hands up and cupped her face.

"There isn't a person out there who thinks this, you and I, is a bad idea. Hetty wouldn't have let us continue being partners, Sam would have introduced me to the unique sea life underneath the boat shed, Callen would have gladly had some Russian mafia take me out, and I have no doubt that Eric and Nell would have ruined me financially. And possibly put up some gruesome, horribly embarrassing photos on Facebook."

"It's only been a few days, Deeks."

"Exactly, plenty of time to kill and/or maim me. But yet, none of that has happened. And if something happens and they aren't happy about this, I'll quit. I'll go back to LAPD full time or set up my own law firm. Whatever. It doesn't make a difference to me. What matters is you, Kensi, that's it. I love you so much more than you will ever realize, and there is nothing – _nothing _- in this world more important than you. I will never leave your side. Through sickness and health, good times and bad. All of it. As long as you are there with me, we can make it."

By the time his little speech was done Kensi had silent tears running down her cheeks. She should have known that he would put her fears at ease.

"You know, you can be wise when you want to be."

"Well, I _do_ have experience in this marriage thing." Kensi snorted, and Deeks smiled at her wiping her eyes.

"Yeah, a whole three days' worth of experience."

"We've made it longer than some celebrity marriages. I say the odds are in our favor." He kissed her again, showing her this time with actions rather than words what he felt.

Both of them sighed when the doorbell rang, reluctantly pulling apart.

"Let's do this." Deeks rubbed his hands together, grinning. Kensi smiled back at him, his confidence in the situation rubbing off on her. Suddenly, part of his words sunk in and she grabbed his arm before he could walk off.

"Hey. For the record, I'm not having another other partner but you." Deeks raised his eyebrows at her, smirk in place.

"Deeks, damn it. Work partner. Well, life partner too, but right now I am talking about work. I don't want anyone else having my back out there. And if you go back to LAPD, I sure as hell don't trust anyone over there to not get you killed so –"Deeks kissed her, shutting her up.

"Good, Fern. I wasn't really planning on going anywhere. Trust me, okay?"

"Yep."

She nudged his shoulder as she walked by, walking to door and saw her mom. _Time to get the party started._

Kensi handed out the beers and wine while Deeks grilled the burgers. Everyone was laughing and joking, the entire mood relaxed. Deeks caught his wife's eye, winking at her, subtly letting her know that it was all okay. Here, surrounding them, was their family: Hetty and Callen, Eric and Nell, Sam and his family and Julia. The only one missing was Nate, but there was no telling where he was right now. Deeks snaked his arm around Kensi's waist, pulling her to him.

"I love you." He whispered it into her ear and kissed her cheek. She laid her head on his shoulder, clinking her beer against his. "I love you, too."

Dinner ready, everybody grabbed a plate and dug in. Deeks had made enough food for an army, which really, was kinda perfect given the people in their place right now. Kensi alone could inhale two burgers before anyone else had finished one. Kensi had barely taken three bites before Julia started scolding her. As much as Deeks wanted to laugh at the sight of Bad Ass Blye - well, Deeks, now - getting chastised by her mother because of her eating habits, the glare Kensi shot stopped him in his tracks.

Instead of standing around to get the punch to the arm he knew was coming, he cleared his throat and stood up, getting everyone's attention.

"So. Hey. Thank you so much for coming over tonight and having a little impromptu celebration with us. I know it's not much, but just having everyone here, well it's pretty great. That being said, we had something else to share with you."

Callen narrowed his eyes and looked at them.

"If you tell us that there's a baby on the way so help me God." Kensi's eyes grew big and Deeks just looked over at her, amusement shining. He couldn't really blame them for immediately thinking that, and one day that would be their announcement, just not today.

"There are so many inappropriate things I could say right here, but my mother in law is present so I will refrain." Deeks smiled over at Julia who laughed. Kensi was just shaking her head, but the small smile couldn't be wiped off her face.

"No, this is not a pregnancy party. C'mon Callen, she's drinking a beer." Everyone laughed at that, all of them nodding their heads as if in agreement. "Actually… well, I asked Kensi to marry me. Again. And for some insane reason, she said yes. I mean, it's not like she could say no, but still." His eyes were locked with hers, neither of them looking away.

"So, wait. You guys are getting married again? Can you do that?" Callen looked confused. Kensi and Deeks looked away from each other towards the group.

"I think technically it's renewing our vows, but yes. We want to do it right this time."

Julia jumped up, hugging Kensi and then Deeks.

"I think it's a great idea."

Any worries Kensi had before this were vanquished as everyone came up congratulating them. The look of excitement on her face as she talked to Nell, Michelle, Hetty and Julia about dates and dresses, invitations and food made Deeks realize this was the second best idea he had ever had. Marrying her had been the first. Now they just had to make it past the actual wedding planning. He and Kensi had briefly talked about doing the ceremony on their anniversary, and he knew this was going to be one long year.

* * *

Kensi sat in the small church next to the beach. The same church she had married Deeks in exactly a year before. She had arrived a little early just to have a few minutes to herself. Her mom and Nell would arrive shortly, so she sat down and looked around.

They had wanted to get married on the beach this time, which actually worked out perfectly since the church sat next to it. Father Steve had been more than happy to perform the service again and had opened the doors to them for whatever they needed.

Everything was set up outside. Chairs lined either side of the aisle with tulle and flowers along the inside of it. Kensi hadn't wanted anything fancy, knowing simple was more their taste. Everything was very minimal, but eloquently done.

She stood up and fingered her wedding dress. It was a plain white strapless dress that was fitted at the top and jeweled at the waist where it puffed out a little, stopping just short of her knees. It wasn't super fancy, but as soon as she had put it on and seen her mom's eyes fill with tears, she knew this was the dress. Julia gave her simple diamond earrings that she had worn at her wedding and Nell had given her small blue starfish pins for her hair. She was planning on keeping it down, with just the top parts pulled away from her face.

Hearing voices, she listened for a minute. She could make out Sam's voice as he sent the caterers over to the tent to set up the food. She chuckled, remembering the argument that had ensued with her husband as they discussed what to eat. Kensi, in all her classiness, wanted pizza and beer. Deeks had wanted something a little more upscale – pasta.

Deeks had asked for exactly one thing regarding the wedding, and that was to have it on the beach. Any and everything else he had been glad to let Kensi have. So when he spoke up about the food, Kensi had of course put up a fight for good measure, but she knew she would give in. Making a huge production of the bride getting what she wanted, she had stormed off towards the bedroom, quickly grabbing the skimpy police woman outfit along the way and locked the bathroom door. She knew Deeks would give her a few minutes to calm down and she used that to her advantage. She was ready for him for when he had knocked on the door, and his mouth had dropped when he saw what she was wearing. The proposition: as long as he played along, he could have his food. All he did was put his wrists out together. "Cuff me." The memory made her smile, and the thought of marrying that man all over again made her heart soar.

Julia knocked on the door softly before entering. Kensi looked up and grinned as she saw her mom enter the room.

"Hey baby. How long have you been here?" She gave her daughter a quick hug before pulling back.

"A few minutes. Not that long." Kensi gave her mom a smile as Nell entered the room as well.

The ladies talked while Kensi got ready. Nell took pictures and Julia made her give her the camera so she could have a few with just them in it. An hour later, the bride was ready to walk down the aisle… again. This time, however, there was no doubt in anyone's mind what was going on.

Callen stood at the door waiting for her. As soon as she opened, he grinned at her and pulled her in for a hug.

"Absolutely beautiful, Kens. You ready for this?" He glanced at what she was holding: not only her bouquet, but two pictures as well. He watched as she looked down at them and back up at him, smiling.

"Yes." Looping her arm through his, they stood at the edge of the beach waiting for their turn. Sam's daughter was the flower girl, and she had asked if her dad could walk with her. Kensi agreed and Sam just shook his head, but looking at them now - father and daughter walking down the aisle throwing rose petals - it was absolutely precious and she knew Sam would never forget this moment with her.

As the best man and maid of honor, Eric and Nell were next. The slowly made their way to the front and before she knew it, the wedding march was playing.

Callen nudged her, a smile on his face.

"Let's do this, shall we?" She grinned and nodded, and as they turned the corner, time stopped.

Deeks was standing at the altar wearing white linen pants, white vest and pale blue button down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His eyes locked onto hers, the smile on his face the brightest she had ever seen.

As Callen guided her down the aisle, the two remained focused on each other. This time, there was no guessing the love in each other's gaze. When they finally made it to the end, Kensi turned and kissed Callen on the cheek.

"Thank you." She whispered it in his ear and he kissed her cheek in return before turning and sitting down.

Kensi handed her flowers to Nell, and Deeks looked at the two photos in her arms. Very carefully, she placed them in the two chairs next to her mom. One of them Deeks knew was Donald, this being Kensi's way of having her dad nearby today. The other, though, took his breath away. It was the only picture he had of his mom, the one he thought he had lost.

He remembered the day she had asked about his mom. The way she had listened to the stories of his childhood, the good ones, the ones his mom had made sure he had. She may not have been the strongest woman out there – she hadn't been able to walk away from his dad no matter how many times he used his fists – but she had done the best she could. He told her about the picture he had taken with him the night he had shot his father and how after an OP gone wrong and he had been burned, he'd had to move out of his apartment in minutes. He hadn't been able to find the picture after that - it was the only tangible memory he had of her - and he had been heartbroken that he had lost it. Now, it seemed, it had just been waiting for her to find.

Tears gathered in his eyes as he looked at this amazing woman who, for the second time, had agreed to marry him. He would never know what he had done so right in this world to have the privilege of spending the rest of his life with her, but he knew he would never take a second of it for granted.

When the pictures were placed, Kensi stood and walked to her spot next to him. He reached out and grabbed her hand, mouthing 'thank you' to her before Father Steve started the service. She gave him a small nod, squeezing his hand.

This time, they recited their own vows. Deeks, in his own fashion, had been both funny and serious, and Kensi had spoken everything she felt from the heart. When they turned this time, there was nothing but pride and happiness for them showing on everyone's face.

"It is with immense pleasure that I have the honor of presenting you with Mr. and Mrs. Martin Deeks. Again."

Everyone started laughing as they made their way down the aisle, the cheers following them. When they made it to the end, Deeks turned and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her as close as possible.

"You will never, _never_ know how much I love you."

"If it's anywhere near how much I love you, I have an idea." She pulled back a little, kissing him with heat and passion that rivaled the sun.

When they finally pulled apart – thanks in large part to the mass amounts of throat clearing behind them – all Deeks could do was look at her.

"How… where…?" He didn't need to say anymore for Kensi to know what he was referring to.

"A box in the back of the closet. I was trying to get something down and that box came down to. It was wrapped up in an old shirt."

Deeks just shook his head, remembering now how he had picked up the first thing he had seen and wrapped the picture in it before throwing it in the box.

"Thank you, Kens. That was… wow, it was perfect. You know, she would have loved you." She kissed him again and took his hand. As she walked with him to the tents, she pressed herself closer to him.

"My dad, he would have loved you, too. I mean, not at first, but eventually." Deeks laughed, knowing she was right. It would have taken a while to win over the man that had her heart first, but he knew he would have done anything to get his approval.

Before sitting down at their table, Deeks leaned over to her, whispering in her ear.

"So, want to make a bet on how long it takes and who notices that you aren't drinking the champagne?" His eyes sparkled at her as he watched the blush on her cheeks. It was a damn good thing they had already planned on telling everyone the news they themselves had just found out the day before, and what better way to do it than with a bet.

"Name the stakes, sweetheart."

He grinned, knowing that the next 50 years would never be dull with this amazing women by his side.

* * *

_AN - well, this is it. Last chapter. Thank you to everyone who took the time to review, follow and favorite this story. I hope you enjoyed it! One last review would be amazing, too. :)_


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